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SKETCHES 



FROM THE 



MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO 



l v 


BY 


J. R. 


FLIPPIN 




CINCINNATI 
STANDAKD PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1889 



1/ 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1889, by 
J. R. FLIPPIN, 
in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



£J?13 



DEDICATION. 



To my beloved wife, Mildred Adelia Flip- 
pin, the following pages, written in a foreign land, 
and often in much suffering, are affectionately in- 
scribed. Her patience, devotion, courage and coun- 
sels through the long, weary years have been my 
strength and inspiration. ? T is true a poor tribute 
to such noble worth ; but, such as it is, rich with 
the wealth of a loving heart. J. E. F. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Written from Guadeloupe y Calvo.— Eight thou- 
sand feet high. — Freight packed in. — Solitudes. 
Mt. Murynoira, trout, fleas, dogs, etc 1-6 

CHAPTER II. 

Agriculture.— Ploughs.— Carts.— Beans. — Tortillas. 

Fruits. — Woods. — Rattlesnakes, lizards, etc. . . . 7-11 

CHAPTER III. 

Mint output. — Tlacos.— Money. — Merchants.— Style. 

Women. — Marriage 12-18 

CHAPTER IV. 

Examples of Mexican style. — Mexican miner. — Ly- 
ing.— Cranks 19-25 

CHAPTER V. 

Indians. — Apaches. — Comanches. — Priests. — 

Schools. — Penmanship 26-33 

CHAPTER VI. 

Mexican no conception of value of time. — Hos- 
pitality.—" Col. Lo."— Negroes 34-46 

v. 



VI. CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Mining. — What is required.— Some observation. — 

Uncertainty 41-48 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Be cautious as to mining investments — Districts. 
Balopilas. — Galena. — Cuervo. — Gaudeloupe y 
Calvo 49-56 

CHAPTER IX. 
Dynamite. — Blasting. — Metal stealing. — Receivers. 

Perils of miners , 57-63 

CHAPTER X. 

Gambling. — Its results. — How metal is taken from 
mines at times. — First experience in going down 
ladders 64-69 

CHAPTER XL 

Metal.— Where found.— How extracted.— Failings. 

Retorting 70-73 

CHAPTER XII. 
Assaying 74-77 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Bullion trains. — Comparative safety. —Factions. — 

Revolutions 78-83 

CHAPTER XIV. 
A revolutionist. — Their mode of operations. — Effect 
on capital. — Railroads. — Freights. — Prices of 
flour, sugar, etc 84-90 

CHAPTER XV. 

Mexican Railroad. — Difficulty of making in moun- 
tains. —A Georgia railroad.— Telegraphs 91-97 



CONTENTS. Vll. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



Postal service. — Experiment to improve it. — Post- 
man's troubles. — Postoffice officials. — News- 
papers 98-105 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Navigable streams. — Navy. — Army — Indian dep- 
redations 106-113 

CHAPTER XVI1L 

Mexican soldiers. — Apaches. — Indian policy. — Ya- 

quis. — Majos. — Home attachment 114-121 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Regulators. — Their procedure. — An incident 122-128 

CHAPTER XX. 

Mexican judges. — Polico. — Carrying pistols. — 

Knives 129-136 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Public order — Texan murdered. — "Accordados." — 

Mountain lawyer. — Modesty and attainments. 137-148 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Little children. — How they live. — Mortality. — St. 

John's day.— Dress 149-157 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Peon character. — Lying. — Perfidious. — Labor. — 
Drunkenness. — Religious life. — Sacred wor- 
ship 158-169 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Miners. — Plan of education.— Incest.— Incident. . . .170-173 



Vlll. CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXV. 
A style of dress .-^Peonage system 174-179 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Creditor Class. — Extortion. — Conscienceless . $ 180-183 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Large landed estates.— Policy as to these.— Transfer 

of property. — Tax gatherers 184-189 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Duties. — Smugglers. — Incident. — Imports. — Stamp 

Duties. — State Taxes.— Municipal Taxation 190-197 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
Resources. — Population. — Agricultural products. — 
Mines. — Mexicans as business men. — Security of 
life and property. — Foreigners mistreated 198-207 

CHAPTER XXX. 
Difference between our Government and England 
and Germany as to their subjects abroad. — In- 
cidents. — Traveling in the mountains 208-212 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

Ambuscaded by robbers. — Captured. — Tied down. — 

Robbed. — Escaped.— Observations 213-224 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

Murder of an American in the mountains.— Cross- 
es. — Murder of Senator Cooper. — National sym- 
pathies. — Immigration desired 225-236 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Reciprocity treaty. — Its aims.— Mexico as a manu- 
facturing country 237-244 



CONTENTS. IX. 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Amusements. — Bulltail pulling, etc.— Eggshell per- 
formance. .'. 245-254 

CHAPTER XXXV. 
Dance.— Dress, etc 255-259 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 
Bull fight 260-265 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 
Drinking general.— Evil effects 266-270 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
Profanity.— Burial customs 271-276 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Marriages.— How celebrated.— Courting 277-284 

CHAPTER XL. 

Handshaking. — Cutting trees out of the path. — 

Cigarette smoking 285-490 

CHAPTER XLI. 

Rawhides. — Uses. — Wooden pins. — Abode|houses. — 

Sanitation. — Diseases' ; 291-296 

CHAPTER XLI1. 
Yellow fever.— Small-pox.— Mountain Doctor 297-303 

CHAPTER XL1II. 
Servants. — Gala'days. — Population. — Fecundity 304-311 

CHAPTERiXLIV. 

Tournament in ^South— Some of our own follies 

compared with*those of the Mexican 312-315 



X. CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XLV. 

Scenery. — Rocks. — Mountains. — Flowers. — Atmos- 
phere. — Mountain Torrent. — Rainbow scenes. .316-32$ 

CHAPTER XLVI. 

Cooking. — "Chile con carne." — "Calaoasa" edible. 

Hogs 324-330 

CHAPTER LXYII. 

Storms. — Constitution of Mexico. — Important pro- 
visions 331-338 

CHAPTER XLVIII. 

Constitution continued. — International board of arbi- 
tration 339 : 345 

CHAPTER XLIX. 

Character of the mountaineers. — Missionaries 346-350 

CHAPTER L. 

How Americans are treated. — Business methods 351-356 

CHAPTER LI. 

Marrying in the country 357-364 

CHAPTER HI. 

Conquest.— Historical facts.— Public debt. — Acquir- 
ing real estate 365-373 

CHAPTER LIII. 

Casas grandes. — Legend. — Mexico, land of won- 
ders.— City of Chihuahua.— Cathedral 374-381 

CHAPTER LIV. 

Institutions of Chihuahua.— Iron mine of Durango. 

Education 382-389 



CONTEXTS. XI. 

CHAPTER LV. 

The tramp. — Local attachments. — Packers. — Inci- 
dents 390-399 

CHAPTER LVI. 
Gargadores.— El Burro 400-405 

CHAPTER LVII. 

Suggestions as to reforms 406-411 

CHAPTER LVIII. 
General reflections 412-418 

CHAPTER LIX. 
General reflections— Concluded 419-427 

CHAPTER LX. 

Conclusion. — Love of the old flag when seen from 

a foreign land 428-433 



INTRODUCTION. 



These pages, in a series of letters, were written 
from the village of Guadalupe y Calvo, in the 
southwestern part of the State of Chihauhau, Mex- 
ico, in 1877. The village is located in the center 
of the Sierra Madre range, to cross which one must 
travel, on foot or mounted, four hundred miles. It 
is truly to the outside world a " terra incognita." 
Of the dwellers in these mountains, their habits, 
customs, laws, industries, modes of business, travel 
and living, as well as the scenery, products, mining, 
antiquities, etc., found there, I have undertaken to 
describe. A residence of nearly five years has 
given me an opportunity unenjoyed by others to 
faithfully delineate these things. I trust my read- 
ers, while recognizing and indulgent to my faults, 
may nevertheless find but few pages unentertaining 
or uninstructive. In passing from subject to sub- 



XIV INTRODUCTION. 

ject I have philosophized a little at times, the per- 
tinency of which may be perceived by my readers. 
With these remarks to the reading public, I in- 
troduce these " Sketches from the Mountains of 
Mexico." J. K. Flippin. 

Memphis, Tenn., May, 1889. 



SKETCHES FROM THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO 



CHAPTER I. 

WRITTEN FROM GUADELOUPE Y CALVO. — EIGHT 
THOUSAND FEET HIGH. — FREIGHT PACKED IN. — 
SOLITUDES. — MT. MURYNOIRA, TROUT, FLEAS, 



I write from these mountains, the heart of the 
Sierra Madre. This place has an altitude of 
eight thousand feet, and to the south and west for 
more than two hundred miles the mountains ex- 
tend, and to the north for five hundred or more. 
Parral, a city of some fifteen thousand inhabitants, 
is distant nearly two hundred miles to the north- 
east, and Culiacan, the capital of the adjoining 
State, Sinaloa, containing nearly eighteen thousand 
people, is two hundred miles to the south. From 
those two places all freight comes to this and other 
mountain points, packed on the backs of mules 
and that other animal called here a burro, but 
which has not been inaptly termed the " mountain 

1 1 



2 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

schooner." Every class of freight must come in 
this way, trunks, boxes, barrels, mining machinery. 
But all machinery must be made sectional, so that 
no pieced will weigh over three hundred pounds, 
which is called a " carga," or mule load. Heavy 
machinery must be bolted together after it reaches 
its destination in the mountains. In this way they 
bring in steam engines, boilers and hoisting works. 
The mules travel from ten to fifteen miles a day. 
Long trains of these animals may be seen toiling 
up and down the mountain sides with their heavy 
cargoes, and thus it has gone on from time imme- 
morial. There are no roads here, nothing but trails, 
and these only wide enough for one mule to pass 
along. In many places the mountain sides have 
been worn for many feet in depth by the hoofs of 
passing trains. This seems almost incredible, but 
the continual tramping, as the continual dropping, 
will wear away stone. Through a long succession 
of years these things have been going on, and the 
Mexican muleteer of to-day is the same as his an- 
cestors were hundreds of years ago. The moun- 
taineer is content to " live and move and have his 
being " undisturbed by the influences of the out- 
side world. He is no progressionist. But as to his 
characteristics I may more particularly describe 
them in some subsequent chapter. Writing from 
this isolated spot I do not undertake to pass Mexico 
in panorama, but will confine myself chiefly to this 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 3 

section and its people. Books of travel may in- 
struct and entertain their readers with vivid por- 
traitures of Mexican life in its higher phases, but 
I shall content myself with speaking of these sur- 
roundings, and those who dwell in these high soli- 
tudes. I repeat solitudes, for those who have 
never been here can have no conception of these 
mountains nor of their inhabitants. I am a firm 
believer in climatic influences. Here you may 
travel for days without seeing a living creature 
with probably the exception of some wandering 
bird, and this seems lost in its lonely flight. The 
stillness is oppressive. On every hand are the 
everlasting mountains, one rising on the other, as 
far as the vision can stretch. At times we feel 
awed at the contemplation of such vistas and feel 
our utter insignificance amid these wondrous works 
of God. Again I have asked myself for what pur- 
pose are these in the divine economy? Few and 
far between are the spots susceptible of culture, but 
somehow a precarious living is obtained. About 
twenty miles from this place (Guadaloupe y Calvo) 
is Mount Murynoira, nearly fourteen thousand feet 
high. Some years ago I remember passing around 
its base one March morning, and while the sunshine 
was beautiful below, its summit was pavillioned in 
clouds. The scene was awe-inspiring. I could 
but think of Mount Sinai, its lightnings and thun- 
der, and* Moses, the great lawgiver, in conference 



4 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

with God touching the destiny of our race. I 
could but recall the mountains of sacred history 
and the scenes they have witnessed in the buried 
ages of the past. Mountains, like the ocean, 
broaden our thoughts, deepen our feelings and in- 
spire our reverence to Him who for wise purposes 
of his own made them all. It is said that the as- 
cent is so gradual in reaching the summit of the 
Rocky Mountains that one does not know it, but 
here their sides are almost precipitous, and between 
them are deep canyons, immense gorges for hun- 
dreds of feet below, picturesque but wild in their 
scenery. In these odorless flowers may be seen 
wasting their beauty on the air. Bright water and 
flashing cascades greet the traveler in his torturous 
wanderings, waking the mountain echoes with their 
weird psalmody. In these streams are found the 
mountain trout, for they live in none other than 
the coldest waters fed by the melting snows. The 
angling disciples of Isaak Walton might linger 
here, and sigh for no other earthly paradise. There 
is no better water in the world, and the temperance 
advocate with a glass of this in his hand, fresh from 
its home in the hills, would be invincible. The 
climate, too, is simply unequaled. Here the ther- 
mometer in midsummer reaches about 70, but 
blankets are indispensable every night in the year. 
No flies nor mosquitoes to irritate you with their 
annoying presence, but when one folds the drapery 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 5 

of tbe couch around him he can " lie down to 
pleasant dreams." We can not plead exemption 
from the fleas, those nimble-footed pests which here, 
as elsewhere, claim such an undue share of female 
attention. Their presence in such quantities may 
be in a measure ascribed to the number of dogs 
thought necessary to complement the life of the 
average Mexican, for they so abound that no census 
taker can number them. I am aware that Con- 
stantinople has her reputation well established in 
this particular, but in a world's show of dogs I am 
sure that Mexico could take both " premium and 
certificate " for extremes of size, differences of ap- 
pearance, varieties of breed and general and par- 
ticular worthlessness. The poorer the peon the 
more numerous his canine retinue. It may be they 
have found their affinity ! Quien sabe f Here is 
the hairless dog, appearing as if he had been 
wrapped up in a peace of tanned leather. " Blanche, 
Tray and Sweetheart " are all here, and are living 
with their " uncles, cousins and aunts." 

I have written somewhat at length of this inte- 
gral feature of Mexican life as it is ; were I to 
omit to do so, I would be an unfaithful chronicler 
of these times. This is my apology, not to the 
dogs, but to my readers, for what I have said. I 
charge this animal with harboring the Mexican 
flea. This fact alone should put him beyond the 
pale of human sympathy. The American flea is a 



6 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

gentleman compared wih his Mexican kinsman. 
The latter is no respecter of age, animal, sex or 
condition. In the United States, when hotly pur- 
sued by day or night, he disports himself from 
limb to limb and eludes the keenest search in folds 
or hose, serving simply, in the parenthesis of at- 
tention given him, to break the monotony of the 
moment and excite a good-natured smile upon the 
part of the luckless hunter. Not so here. This 
Mexican flea was born hungry and has been under- 
fed all his life. His bite is a sting, and he bites at 
every opportunity, and everything else, with prob- 
ably the exception of the cactus plant. He scarcely 
flees when man pursues, but dies a martyr to his 
ravenous appetite. The sufferer carries with him 
for days mementos of his supple foe. I should be 
glad to dismiss him with a better character, but if 
I have done him rank injustice then "let other 
men and other times rise to do him justice." t But 
I have written enough, too much, too, for the pres- 
ent ; so good-by. More anon. 



CHAPTER II. 

AGRICULTURE. — PLOUGHS. — CARTS. — BEANS. — 
TORTILLAS. — FRUITS. — WOODS. — RATTLE- 
SNAKES. — LIZZARDS, ETC. 

Agriculture in these mountains is imperfectly 
understood and badly practiced. Corn is the 
chief support, and this sells very high. The na- 
tives here of all conditions of life grind it between 
two stones. This improvised mill, rude and simple, 
is a part of every household. The pack trains 
carry these stones with them, so that when they 
stop they can, in a few minutes, set their mill to 
grinding with no other motive power than human 
muscle. The same kind of a mill was used, I 
doubt not, in the patriarchal ages, and the Mexican 
cares nought for the new-fangled labor-saving 
machinery of the nineteenth century. In this con- 
nection I might mention the fact that he uses still 
the wooden plough with no handles, but while one 
holds the upright portion, another drives the yoke 
of oxen. So you see they believe in the " division 
of labor," of which political economists write so 
much. This is, too, the same kind of a plough, if 

7 



8 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

pictorial representations are not at fault, that Abra- 
ham told Isaac to bring in out of the weather after 
haying finished the ploughing commanded by Pater- 
familias. I like it for its antiquity, but for its 
serviceableness it will never so tickle the earth as 
to make it " laugh with a harvest." Some years 
since I learned some enterprising agricultural im- 
plement-maker shipped a lot of ploughs into this 
country, and soma of them were sent out to certain 
ranches, but what was the surprise of the aforesaid 
when, going out to see what progress had been 
made with the ploughs, to find that every handle 
had been cut off! Scarcely sufficient intelligence 
to see the adaptation of things. These ploughs are 
drawn by oxen yoked not with bows to the necks, 
but with yokes tied; immediately behind the horns, 
so that, in fact, they push the load instead of pull- 
ing it. But this is their way, and it is good enough 
for them, they think, inasmuch as their remotest 
ancestors did the thing that way, and none other 
will they have. Here we have no kind ot vehicles, 
as there are no roads ; but lower down, where there 
is some level land, carts are used to a limited ex- 
tent. These have large wooden wheels, very rude 
and ungainly in appearance, with no iron tires. 
As many as six and eight yoke of oxen may be 
seen dragging these ponderous two-wheeled carts. 
And in the plains, often, eighteen and twenty mules 
are hitched to one of these enormous wagons. The 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 9 

mules are small, and what they lack in size they 
make up in numbers. Nearly all the stage-coaches 
of the country have mules four abreast. And they 
go, too, with the speed of Mr. John Gilpin, of dear 
memory. I have timed them as they flew along 
the stony road between stations, making nearly ten 
miles an hour. These coaches have two drivers, 
one with the reins and the other with the whip 
and "a pocket full of rocks/' the latter to throw 
and strike the more distant mules. These Mexican 
teamsters do everything by main strength, mere 
brute force. The good soul of Berg would die 
from sheer vexation were he to witness their bru- 
talities for a brief period. But I find I am some- 
what digressing, and did not speak of the other 
agricultural products of these mountains. There 
is a certain kind; of beans raised here which, in 
fact, is the national dish ; the rich and poor eat it, 
and no dining and no meal is thought to be com- 
plete without its presence. It is very nutritious, 
and it is well it is so, for but few of the poorer 
classes can afford to purchase meat. The staple 
commodities of living are corn and beans, from 
year to year, from generation to generation. From 
corn is made a thin cake called tortillas, and with 
this he scoops up his beans from some earthen ves- 
sel, ignoring knife, fork and spoon, if rich enough 
to possess them. The way one eats is a pretty good 
sign how he has been raised. Culture, 01 the want 



10 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

of it, will manifest itself at the table. Good " table 
manners " are highly desirable. Fruits abound to 
some extent. Here I have seen in the month of 
December, early part, the trees laden with ripe 
peaches of fine quality. Apples are very idiffer- 
ent, small and insipid. But we are near enough 
to the warm country to get many of the tropical 
fruits. Oranges are plentiful, and I never before 
saw them from blossom to matured fruit and all 
intermediate stages on the same tree. Lemons 
grow wild in the woods. Watermelons grow in 
the sands along the shores of the rivers. And 
many other fruits of unpronouncable names, but 
delicious taste flourish in luxuriance. Cotton, 
when it grows at all, is no longer an annual, but 
the same stalks bear a succession of crops. The 
mountain sides are covered in many places with 
fine pasturage, which is perennial. In some por- 
tions game abounds — deer, bear, coyote, a species 
of wolf, and the lion. The latter I have never 
encountered, and shall postpone this introduction 
to a more convenient season. The mountains are 
covered with fine pines, in some places with oak, 
depending upon the altitude. There are many 
other species of wood, the different names of which 
I do not now recall. Walnut and cedar also 
abound. Centipedes and tarantulas are seldom 
seen in these high localities. The rattlesnakes find 
a lurking place amid these rocks and clefts, and 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. H 

sometimes betray an intrusiveness and familiarity 
irreconcilable with personal safety. 

Some years since, Prof. Lupton, of Vanderbilt 
University, in coming over the mountains, spread 
his blankets upon the ground, as is customary, for 
the night, but when removing them next morning 
found a rattlesnake during the night had crawled 
in and warmly ensconced himself from the chilly 
mountain air. It is said politics make strange bed- 
fellows; who knows but in this way his snakeship 
was testifying his approval ol the learned profes- 
sor's views upon our borne or foreign policy? Be 
this as it may, these are sometimes the incidental 
happenings of the mountain tourist, which leave 
an experience for the remainder of life, however 
protracted. Lizzards and scorpions exist in great 
numbers and endless variety, always obtrusive and 
always unwelcome. 



CHAPTER III. 

MINT OUTPUT. — TLACOS. — MONEY. — MERCHANTS. 
— STYLE. — WOMEN. — MARRIAGE. 

In these mountains have been found and worked 
for long ages the precious metals, gold and silver. 
Mexico I think, according to well authenticated 
statistics has furnished to commerce more than half 
the silver of the world. Her coinage output since 
the opening of her mints up to June 30, 1886 was 
$3,272,452,670.12. Look at these figures again, 
are they not enormous? And yet digging, delving 
and coining goes on. Her mountains are furnishing 
the financial currents to vitalize in no little measure 
the commerce and industries of the age. These 
giant mountains then, " rock-ribbed and ancient as 
the Sun," are not without their mission, in the 
wisdom of their great Author. Here during the 
long cycles of the past have remained locked up the 
treasures of the nations. Abuse Mexico if you 
will, decry her people and criticise the government, 
the fact still remains it is the very home of the 
precious metals. This mountain range with its 
untold mines extends throughout the entire length of 
12 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 13 

this republic on its western slope, and I think the 
Andes in South America are but a continuation of 
the same range with their fabulous history of 
mineral wealth. Upon bullion there is an export 
tax of $4.41, but upon coined dollars there is no 
export duty. The mints of the country are leased 
to private parties, who for the privilege pay a high 
compensation. A singular feature of the govern- 
mental policy is that private individuals should 
coin the money of the country, but such is the fact. 
The origin of the matter, I presume was this, that 
to meet with ready money the pressing necessities 
of the government, it resorted to the leasing ex- 
pedient. In this section there is no paper currency, 
but silver and copper, gold being rarely seen. The 
copper pieces were coined for three cent pieces, but 
these have been debased by public authority fifty 
per cent. These are called " tlacos" (pronounced 
as if written claquers) and it takes sixty-four of them 
to make a dollar. So you see for a little work one 
receives big pay. Lycurgus caused iron money to 
be made of such ponderous size that to take a few 
pieces of change to the market would require a 
vehicle of some description. His object was to 
prevent the love of money from corrupting the 
virtue of his people. Who knows but that Mexi- 
can statesman aud financiers may have read up on 
the old Spartan and are trying the experiment of 
" hefty money " on their constituents in the West- 



14 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

era World? It is a point blank, unmitigated 
nuisance. There are some banks in the large cities, 
with large capital which do a fine business, but in 
these mountains a bank bill is almost as great a 
curiosity as a college diploma. Some enterprising 
merchants attempted the introduction of paper 
money here some months since, but they were 
looked upon by the rest of the community as most 
promising candidates for some unerected lunatic 
asylum. They were about a century or a century and 
a half in advance of their contemporaries, and the 
spasmodic effort at the reform of our circulating 
medium is now numbered with the forgotten noth- 
ings of the past. Some similar project may be re- 
vived here after the lapse of a few decades when 
these antiquarians of the granite formation, shall be 
sleeping beneath the daffodils and daisies. 

There is one thing which can be said to the credit 
of these mountain merchants, they seldom break. 
Bankruptcy laws are unknown, and the personal 
credit of the purchasing merchant is more looked to 
than his actual ability to pay and the compulsory 
means of payment. They seldom resort to law to 
enforce collection. His ability to purchase goods, 
depends upon his faithfulness and punctuality in 
meeting payments when due. To be protested is 
almost tantamount to being disgraced. 

These merchants, scattered over the Sierras 
hundreds of miles from Mazatlan, where they make 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 15 

their purchases, I am told after they have left that 
place with their stocks of goods, may not be heard 
from for many months, but when their paper be- 
comes due, they almost invariably meet it. They 
get long credit, and do not trouble themselves much 
about their indebtness until the maturity of their 
obligations approaches. The freights being very, 
high, packed in by mules, they sell at figures ex- 
ceedingly steep. In fact, it is seldom I presume, 
when they do not make the " Dutchman's one per 
cent." The merchants look upon themselves as 
forming the upper crust of society, and hence the 
ambition of all nearly, is to become merchants. If 
one is a merchant and in addition owns a side patch 
of mountain land with a few antiquated adobe huts, 
then he is " lord of the manor," and after the man-, 
ner of the autocrat he demeaneth himself. They 
are very fond of style, and the more and " louder " 
the style, the more intense is their satisfaction. 
Gay colors and showy equipages, and particuarly 
white handled pistols captivate their innermost 
souls. With them one without style is worse than 
" poor white trash " in the estimation of our old 
colored brother in ante bellum times. This love of 
finery and foolishness, is not limited to one class, 
but prevades all ranks and conditions. The child- 
ren imbibe it with their mother's milk and the 
mother transmits it to the children as their chief 
heritage. Fine horses, silver mounted saddles, and 



16 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

heavily plated spurs " get away" with all of them. 
The very children sigh for the speedy coming of 
the day when they too can ride richly caparisoned 
steeds, with saddles, and bridles, and spurs, be- 
spangled with silver ornamentations. These things 
are suggestive of barbaric splendors, and such tastes 
define pretty well the degree of civilization existing. 
So then, if you would capture good treatment from 
the most of them, and the worst of them, give them 
" good style," and then " stare fate in the face." 

The Mexican's object in acquiring money is to 
live in style, to appear gorgeous before his fellows, 
and as he goes dashing by on his curveting steed to 
make the spectators, " poor white folks" commit 
suicide from superheated envy and thus escape an- 
other such vision. While thus passing in review 
his old friends and neighbors, " he smiles, and 
smiles and murders while he smiles." Then black- 
eyed senoritas inspire to deeds of " high emprize " 
by their encouraging presence these fearless cava- 
liers. But when did femininity do otherwise? Call 
her what nationality you please, it matters not in 
what clime she dwells, in polar snows, or under 
eqatorial suns, the self-same power she has in the 
nineteenth century to make man a hero of chivalry, 
as she had in the twilight of history to convert him 
into a demigod. The women here are a great deal 
better than the men — I reckon it is so everywhere. 
Metaphorically speaking they are made out of 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 17 

a better clay, endure more and last longer. It is 
well it is so in this land, for the most of them are 
" hewers of wood and drawers of water." They 
are practically in a state of serfdom. Their hus- 
bands are jenlous and tyrannous. Their homes are 
not homes. There is no such word as home in the 
language. Domestic felicity is the exception. The 
fire-side and the hearth are no sacred places over 
which will linger the sweet memories of the " long 
ago." Hovels of misery can not be fashioned into 
homes of happiness. Marriage is said to have been 
the only institution which survived the fall. But 
here marriage itself has fallen. This sacred relation 
is viewed with comparative indifference. The con- 
sequences are disastrous to good morals and order. 
For often the domineering husband becomes the 
licentious debauchee and ends his life in crime; the 
poverty-stricken woman with her numerous progeny 
is abandoned to want and the merciless tempests of 
the world. This picture is not overdrawn, but 
simply realistic. I do not say that the average 
Mexican is not affectionate towards his wife and 
children, it were unnatural to be otherwise, but this 
affection with him seems to be a shallow current, 
with no life long spring for its source. There is 
a certain philosophy for this state of things, at all 
events, a theory which may serve as a solution of 
the matter. Their education and habits of life have 
much to do with this question. No high moral 

2 



18 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

motives exert their controlling influences upon the 
Mexican. He has been raised to look upon woman 
as his inferior, and she has been taught in the same 
school, and hence plods along in the same beaten 
track, yielding an unquestioning obedience to her 
liege lord's unreasonable exactions. To her his 
word is law, and her disobedience meets with a 
summary punishment. And here, as in other parts, 
although abused and beaten by the brute, she un- 
murmuringly submits, and with a devotion worthy of 
a better object, she will plead for his relief from a 
well-merited punishment. Human nature is a unity, 
and woman's nature is the same at all times and in 
every place. When he grows weary of her, as a 
well-worn garment he lays her aside, or if he still 
retains her, he acquires another new garment of the 
same pattern, the last completely supplanting the 
former. She has nothing and can do nothing, and 
has no spirit to resist the heartless affront. Brought 
up with these views of the marital relation, she can 
make no new departures. She neither has heard 
nor knows of anything better, and thus lives on in 
sufferance and in suffering to the end. She is the 
veriest menial and he the supercilious grandee, for 
whom she toils night and day to minister to his 
arrogance and grandiloquent style. Illustrations 
are not wanting to verify this statement, as to 
the sacrifices made upon the part of the wife to keep 
up appearances on the part of the husband, so-called. 



CHAPTER IV. 

EXAMPLES OF MEXICAN STYLE. — MEXICAN MINER. 
— LYING. — CRANKS. 

I was speaking at the close of my last chapter of 
the supercilious and ridiculous arrogance of the 
Mexican and the servility and submission of his 
wife. Suffer me to begin this with an illustration. 
There is a couple living a short distance from this 
village. The man is probably not worth fifty 
dollars in the world, yet on Sunday evenings he 
must repair to the village some half a mile distant, 
to make an exhibition of himself. And however 
cold or warm the day he arrays himself for the 
occasion by wearing a white linen coat of the 
" Seymour pattern," with immense cuffs that reach 
about midway between wrist and elbows and then 
with ponderous stick strikes out in advance with his 
meek wife at a respectful distance in the rear, and 
she followed in turn at a given distance by a 
small boy bearing the cheap overcoat of the afore- 
said, which in some way or other he has managed 
to acquire. In this way he makes his triumphal 
entrance into the village to the manifest delectation 

19 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 



of his gazing beholders. But when he returns that 
overcoat is brought into requisition regardless of 
weather. The transformation scene is completed in 
act second and he retraces his steps in the same 
manner to his starting point, which when reached, 
an air of supreme satisfaction irradiates his coun- 
tenance, and his vanity is surpressed until the 
ensuing Sunday. 

Some one has said the more he saw of a certain 
person the better he liked a dog. I do not say 
this in reference to these people, far from it, but 
I will say the more I see of them the better I like 
my own countrymen. National pride is stimulated 
when I look upon the people of other nationali- 
ties, contrast the differences between them in 
education, morals and everything which goes to 
make up manhood. Absence only intensifies these 
home attractions, and no foreign residence can 
ever wean away the allegiance of a true American. 
He has breathed all his life the spirit of liberty and 
law and, whenever he sees a deprivation of the one, 
and violation of the other, this earnest protest of 
his nature is awakpned. And especially is this so 
when he sees the natural rights of woman eschewed, 
and her wrongs unredressed. 

It is scarcely within the province of this volume to 
institute farther comparison between the condi- 
tion of women here and in our own country. 
Those, who claim to be higher in caste than the 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 21 

lower order by reason of having more money, or 
if not having this, then for the fact that some of 
their ancestors had it, are of hut little value 
in any point of view. " They neither toil nor 
spin." Work is disgraceful and they would con- 
sider themselves as outlawed from the pale of 
soceity were they to be caught taking home from 
a shopping excursion the lightest of their pur- 
chases, and these are necessarily light from the 
lightness of their purses. But few mountaineers 
are wealthy. One may own a few head of stock 
and a corn patch hidden in some deep canyon or 
hung upon some mountain side but, all told, will 
not aggregate more than a few thousand dollars. 
If he has a mining interest he will talk more flip- 
pantly of his expectations, and if you will only 
listen to him and believe one hundreth part of his 
statements you may become impressed with his fu- 
ture importance. 

But I unhesitatingly affirm that the Mexican 
miner does not, and probably can not tell the truth 
about mining matters. I am aware that it is 
affirmed by metaphysicians that if we take the 
case of the most notorious liar, that he will speak 
the truth a dozen times where he tells a falsehood 
once. That is it is natural to tell the truth and a 
perversion of nature not to tell it. Those book 
men never knew a Mexican miner, and wrote at 
random. Lying with him, as stealing with the 



22 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

Spartans, is considered a virtue, when not found 
out. Detection is the disgrace and not the fact, 
itself. And this is strauge too that they will not 
tell the truth for cash, when they can tell a lie on 
credit, in reference to mining property. I have 
known some Mexicans otherwise considered as 
exemplars in society, models of good breeding, 
intelligent and kind hearted, yet when approached 
upon the mining question, went all to pieces and 
in a few minutes forfeited all their past reputa- 
tion as good citizens. Now I will not say that 
this is a characteristic exclusively belonging to 
the Mexicans. Not so. Americans also betray a 
marked weakness qa^the same subject. Right in 
every thing else, they lie all along the line about 
their mining claims. There must be something 
in the subject matter itself, in the atmosphere 
which surrounds it, that frightens truth away. In 
moments of introspection I sometimes ask my- 
self the question, old fellow have n't you drifted 
too just a little from your old moorings and of 
late veered a little from Truth's reckonings ? It is 
a most fascinating and delusive business, hope 
ever leading the way and gilding the future with 
roseate expectations, and golden fruits. The 
contemplation of such things so long, and the 
thoughts born of the desire to see their realiza- 
tion so warmly entertained, are calculated to mis- 
lead, and betray one into saying and doing things 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 23 

based upon high hope, more than upon fact. 
May he not unconsciously lie ? Lying then to 
some extent seems to be an inseparable concomi- 
tant of the average mining man it matters not 
whence he hails. 

But the veteran miner frequently manifests 
another striking characteristic, crankiness. I have 
particularly observed that in this section. Great 
numbers of Americans and others swarm into 
these mountains from the States of California, 
Nevada and from Arizona and New Mexico, all of 
them broke and nearly all of them with some 
abnormal development. They have had hard lives 
and rough experiences; with the dream of earlier 
life unrealized, they now flock from place to place 
seeking to recover their fallen fortunes and at some 
time or other get " back home again." Misfortune 
and disappointments have soured their dispositions, 
and the evenings of their existence having grown 
from bad to worse find them as the veriest of cranks. 
With them nothing is right, everything is wrong. 
Without a dollar in their pockets as an evidence of 
their past good judgments, they will criticize 
everything and everybody, and immodestly failing 
to remember that their own lives have been de- 
monstrated failures they will launch their ana- 
themas against the business abilities and manage- 
ment of others. It is an amusement not unmingled 
with a small modicum of disgust to hear them 



24 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

ventilate their opinions and obtrusively make sug- 
gestions of the most gratuitous character. The 
owners of property costing hundreds of thousand 
dollars which has been paid for by prudence, 
economy and sound business tact are the merest 
simpletons in the estimation of these peripatetic 
cranks, and know nothing in comparison with 
themselves, who as employes of the owners, are as 
a temporary shift, glad to hire for a few dollars, fill 
up for a few days, and then fly away to some 
other camping grounds to re-enact the role of their 
former life. Impudence is one of their shining 
virtues. 

These gentry do not all live in these mountains; 
their homes are not limited by parallels of latitude 
or longitude. I have referred to the mining crank 
for the reason that I suppose he is more gorgeous in 
his pretensions and unblushing in his conceit than 
all others. I am continually reminded of a story 
of some Eastern erank I heard some years since. 
Some magnificent vessel, costing nearly a million ot 
dollars was being launched when something became 
disarranged greatly imperilling the vessel for the 
time. Just then at the critical period, during the 
suspense, and when silence reigned among the 
thousands present, a seedy fellow stepped forward 
trowserless where trowsers should be, a regular 
tramp crank, and cried out at the top of his voice, 
" 'turn her loose, I will be responsible for her." The 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 25 

story ends here, I am sorry to say, leaving the 
vessel in a state of suspended animation and at the 
mercy of the crank. Forgive me if I have paid 
too much deference to this specimen of the genus 
homo. I have been the victim of so many of his 
annoyances, I could not well let him pass without 
some fitting recognition of his multiform virtues. 
Aud now with one more thrust of my pen, I con- 
sign him to the oblivion he deserves, with the heart- 
expressed hope he may never in these parts re- 
appear among the living again. 



CHAPTER Y. 

INDIANS. — APACHES. — CAMANCHES. — PRIESTS. — 
SCHOOLS. — PENMANSHIP. 

Heretofore 1 have failed to mention the fact 
that near this place live several large tribes of In- 
dians. Many years ago, I had read about the In- 
dians and the Indian legends, until an unusual 
interest had been excited in their behalf, and for 
these braves an undue sympathy had been enlisted. 
I do not doubt I am repeating the feelings and 
experience of many others. But, at that time, be- 
ing nothing more than a tender-hearted, sympa- 
thetic youth, I had never seen this brave red man 
of the woods, " this glass of fashion and mould of 
form." I have seen him now from heel to head, 
and the vivid imagery of youth must now retire 
before the naked truth. I have seen much of so- 
ciety, and been to many fashionable gatherings in 
former days, where belles and beaux, dressed in ex- 
tremest fashion, reigned ; where costliest elegance 
scarce concealed hidden charms, half-revealed 
and half-suggested in graceful loops and folds; 
26 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 27 

yet, in point of dress, I must say, for truth is 
truth and must be told, these Indians outstrip 
them all ! 

To view him well, anatomically and physiolog- 
ically, he should be divided into three sections — 
upper, middle and lower. Suppose his average 
height to be here, five feet ten inches, the upper 
portion commencing from his " dome of thought 
and palace of the soul" will extend downwards 
two feet six inches. The lower portion extends 
upward two feet and six inches from his noble 
feet, weather-beaten, I confess, but in their artistic 
proportions outrivaling the pedal extremities of 
any model in plaster of Paris vended by itinerating 
Italians to image lovers. The central section, 
lying immediately between the upper and lower, 
and bounded by them upon the north and south 
respectively, embraces a zone of ten inches in 
width, clothed with the finest the country affords, 
a fabric known elsewhere, when new, as white cot- 
ton cloth ; but here, since long ago discolored with 
usage, my vocabulary is wanting in terms to give 
it a proper designation. This band is put in posi- 
tion, wrapped around him several times and fast- 
ened, so as not to impede his locomotion, nor to be 
seen as a banner, " fluttering in the breeze," upon 
his portly form, as it vanishes through rocks and 
woods, "o'er the hills and far away." Thus 
warmly clothed, for his upper and lower sections 



28 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

are guiltless of any covering, he is prepared for the 
changes of the weather. I remarked he had no 
other clothing ; in this statement I am not borne 
out by the facts ; he has his bow and arrows, and 
a strip of red cloth, which binds in love-knot his 
dark, flowing locks. Some claim he is " a man 
and a brother." The former proposition I admit; 
as to the latter, I must be permitted the exercise of 
my own opinion undisturbed. If a brother, then 
a u big brother," with but little fraternity, and 
does not act like one of the family. Credit is due 
him here, however, for his pacific disposition, and 
for pursuing the peaceful, rather than the warlike 
walks of life. He is a tender of herds, and tiller 
ot the fields. Herds of cattle, flocks of sheep, 
aud fields of corn engage his attention, rather than 
the uncertain chances of game. He is democratic 
in his tastes, and, as before intimated, republican 
in his simplicity. To compress it in a sentence, 
these are large, able-bodied, ignorant, inoffensive 
citizens. If he be a brother, then in this member 
of the family we can have but little pride, as his 
morals are low and his intellect as oqaque as the 
rings of Saturn. He is stolid, cold and uncommu- 
nicative. Your persistent inquiries can rarely 
elicit more than replies in monosyllables. If he is 
eloquent, as is sometimes said, then it is the elo- 
quence of silence, golden silence. He will never 
spoil his story by redundant expressions. He is 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 29 

still the child of nature, and unaffected by the arti- 
ficialities and conventionalisms of modern life. 

Many years ago, roving bands of Apaches and 
Camanches made incursions into these mountains 
and left in their wake evidences of their cruelty 
and desolation. These were bad Indians, and now 
but few of them survive, and none probably now 
raid this section of the Republic. The marks of 
their murders and destroying visitations may now 
often be seen as you journey along wearily over 
these mountain paths. Here and there may be 
seen great piles of stones, with a rude cross over 
them, telling in un mistaken language of some 
atrocious murder by these predatory bands. Some 
years since, with a Mexican guide, I was pursuing 
my solitary way over these mountains, when sud- 
denly I came upon one of these burial places, 
when I asked its meaning, and my guide under- 
standing the subject of my inquiry, uttered, with a 
shrug of the shoulders, but one word in response, 
" Camauche," and that told it all, for here before 
us slept the victims of his massacre. Some few of 
these Indians have acquired a little education, but 
have tasted so sparingly of the "Pierian Spring," 
that their shallow draughts do not as yet " intoxi- 
cate the brain." 

These, in religion, are Catholics, and have some 
churches of rude construction and antique design. 
The priest visit them from time to time, gathering 



30 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

in his tithes, and ministering to their spiritual 
wants. I have met the Holy Father on one or two 
occasions, in making the rounds of his diocese, and 
he was well attended, and " armed and equipped, 
too, as the law directs." His trusty rifle and re- 
volvers were in ready position, should the exigency 
require them, and a well-groomed pack-mule car- 
ried an abundance of good provisions and a mys- 
terious looking bottle, fragrant with the breath ot 
" mountain dew." His weapons were carnal, as 
well as spiritual, and thus panoplied he went forth 
in the highways and byways, giving invitations to 
the feast and collecting shekels and sheaves. I 
should dislike to say that there are here no priests 
worthy of their profession ; but from what I have 
seen and heard, there are but few whose high voca- 
tion is not disgraced by their lives. One died here 
some years since, whose sinful practices had begot- 
ten the most malignant infirmity, leaving to the 
care of his parish a house full of illegitimate chil- 
dren. And these things are no moral shock to his 
parishioners, for they say the Father can do no 
wrong, that he is the vicar of Christ on earth, and 
that his precepts, rather than his example, should 
be obeyed. 

'Such a firm grasp has priestcraft on this deluded 
people, that personal independence is ignored, and 
a blind obedience is demanded and yielded. These 
Catholics, I am told, are not recognized by the 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 31 

Roman Pontiff. If this be so, then you can have 
some idea of the moral standard of these religion- 
ists. If they commit murder, they believe the 
word of the priest can wipe out the blood of the 
slain. If they steal, his word is all-sufficient to 
cancel the offence. If they, in their wantonness, 
violate the sanctity of youth, age and innocence, 
his word carries a pardoning power, changing vice 
into virtue and villainy into righteousness. They 
believe he can bar those gates which "grate harsh 
thunder," or open those " on golden hinges turn- 
ing." Such a faith, with such a people, makes 
them dangerous, devilish and lawless. Believing 
in the priest's power to forgive, and the ease with 
which this forgiveness may be obtained, not only 
weakens all moral restraints, but gives positive en- 
couragement to the indulgence of the meanest pas- 
sions, and the perpetration of the vilest crimes. 
He stabs with assassin's hand his fellow men to-day, 
and to-morrow, should the law demand his life, the 
holy confessor, with prayer arid crucifix and shrine, 
sends him on to glory. Future punishment has no 
terrors for him, for his mediator can change by his 
transforming power, scarlet sins into innocence and 
purity. 

Do not misunderstand me, I am only speaking 
of the faith of these people in these mountains, 
and not elsewhere. Their ignorance is dense, and 
their superstition indescribable. They seem to 



32 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

have learned nothing in the past, and to be incap- 
able of learning in the future. I now refer to 
them as a mass, to which, of course, there are some 
exceptions, " few and far between." There are 
but few schools, and these of a rudimentary char- 
acter and not well attended. Ignorance is wide- 
spread, and its consequences widefelt, and seen in 
every department of life. 

While the Castilian language is most beautiful, rich 
and musical, yet it can scarcely be said to be the lan- 
guage of these mountaineers,who speak an idiom pecu- 
liarly their own, a hybrid made up from the Mexican, 
Spanish and Indian. They are as far from speaking 
pure Spanish, as an Americanized Hottentot from 
speaking Addisonian English. Their vocabulary is 
very limited, not embracing, I think, more than a 
few thousand words. These fall within the sphere of 
their everyday life, including the most common- 
place expressions in daily use. When striving to 
make them understand some simple something, but 
without success, it is frequently said by Americans, 
in a fit of fretful despair, "They don't understand 
their own language." 

There is one thing they do well, when they can 
do it at all, and that is, they write beautifully. 
Their penmanship is almost like copy-plate. They 
almost unexceptionably write well. Why this is 
so, I am at a loss to explain, but such is the fact. 
It may be for the same reason assigned by the 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 33 

dude, when asked by his comrade how it was that 
he managed to keep his cravat so faultlessly tied, 
who replied, with an oath, that he gave his whole 
attention to it. But in writing, as in everything 
else, they take their time. Americans write 
rapidly, Mexicans slowly. An ordinary business 
letter an American will finish, fold, seal, stamp and 
address, before a Mexican will have gotten through 
with his meaningless formalism and empty terms of 
endearment. He takes his time, or anybody's 
else's time, but does it well. My observation has 
led me to believe that good penmanship runs in 
families, and what I have seen here, has confirmed 
this impression. 



CHAPTER VI. 

MEXICAN NO CONCEPTION OF VALUE OF TIME. — 
HOSPITALITY. — " COL. LO." — NEGKOS. 

Heretofore I have indicated that the teachable- 
ness of these people is very limited. The common 
laborers grasp a new idea with much difficulty. 
You may tell them and show them how to do a 
thing in a certain way a dozen times, yet a repeti- 
tion of the act seems to embarrass them, and as 
soon as you leave them, they lapse into their old 
ways again, however unwise and costly. They 
have no conception as to the value of time. They 
will sit down in front of a ton of rock to break it, 
and break it as far as they can reach, and then get 
up and remove any rock unbroken to their seats, 
instead of moving their seats to the rock. The 
former will probably take twenty minutes, the 
latter three seconds. But a greater than Mo- 
hammed is he, for the mountain comes to him as it 
came not to the Mussulman Prophet. In order to 
remove a pile of metal, probably not six feet, they 
will fill a leathern bag called a surron, with a horn 
spoon, from the metal pile, and then shoulder and 
34 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 35 

pack it the six feet, where they will dump it, 
rather than use a shovel lying within two feet of 
them, and accomplishing the job in one-fourth of 
the time. They seem to study how not to do it, 
and in this to take as much time as possible, for 
this is the cheapest commodity of which they have 
any knowledge, at least in their estimation. It is 
hard to run out of the worn grooves of many 
years ; new adjustments require thought and pains- 
taking. To instruct these lower orders and make 
something out of them, will require the long-suf- 
fering patience of the patriarch Job ; for in that 
teacher who instructs them, will patience have had 
her perfect work. 

I will not refer exclusively to unpraiseworthy 
characteristics, but will give the good and bad as 
I find them. Among the former I refer to Mexi- 
can hospitality. However poor he may be, the 
Mexican will share with you his last morsel. This 
is, indeed, a redeeming trait, and eloquently pleads 
for the brotherhood of man. I shall never forget 
the hospitable entertainment given me some years 
since by Mexican strangers. For two days and a 
night I had been lost, wandering in these pathless 
mountains, seeking to find my lost way, when, to- 
wards nightfall, emerging from an immense canyon, 
we came upon an obscure path, and following it, 
we knew not whither, long after night we de- 
scried a light, to which we bent our way, and when 



36 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

reached, we found a small Mexican train en- 
camped. Learning our condition, for we were 
nearly starved and worn out, they came at once to 
our relief with all they had. That night we slept 
in their camp and shared their generous stores, and 
in the morning, receiving their instructions, left on 
their heads our heart's blessing. The roughest 
people, and the rudest tribes, I believe, show this 
noble trait ; it is the " one touch of nature which 
makes the whole world kin," the shining link that 
binds in sympathetic union the members of our 
race. Angels have been entertained unawares. 
And the departing stranger from the place of hos- 
pitality, paints over it a bow of peace with loveli- 
est hues, crowned with a double blessing, " on him 
who gives and him who takes." The curling 
smoke, when seen from afar by the departing guest 
for the last time, goes heavenward with his bene- 
diction upon the hospitable dwellers below. 

Mexicans and Indians, for the most part, make 
up the population of the mountains, the former in 
the ascendant. However, the family of Colonel 
and Mrs. Lo, are no unimportant factors in society 
here. When heretofore speaking of him, I omitted 
to advert to his fine physique, magnificent propor- 
tions — a living model for a sculptor. In muscular 
development some of them appear Herculean. 
The finest specimen of manhood I think I ever 
saw, was an Indian. I was winding my way down 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 37 

a deep gorge one cold morning, when, but a short 
distance from me, and above me, appeared in front 
of his cave a stalwart Indian, unclad, with bow and 
arrow in hand. The suddenness of the apparition, 
his apparent warlike preparation, the atmospheric 
condition, and last, but not least, the uncertainty 
as to whether " his intentions were honorable/' may 
have magnified his outline against the mountain 
side; but he then certainly seemed to me a " big 
Injun heap." 

When the biographer of Col. Lo comes to write 
his life, he should not fail to dwell at some length 
upon his domestic habits and relations. Here Mrs. 
Lo can not properly complain of the Colonel for 
not sharing with her the u burden and heat of the 
day" in the open corn field. While he sees that 
she is not neglectful of her open air duties, he is 
willing to encourage her with his manly presence 
on all proper occasions. This is eminently com- 
mendable. While the heads of the household are 
looking after the family subsistence department, 
the shiftless little Los must shift for themselves. 
She careth not for Parisian costumes and drawing- 
room accomplishments. Ladies' magazines and the 
light literature of the day, find in her no enthusi- 
astic admirer. They often dwell in caves and 
under overhanging rocks, seeking no better habita- 
tions, and entirely contented with nature's quarters. 
There they rear their numerous brood, and send 



38 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

them adrift to tread in the path their fathers trod. 
Some of them live, too, to an extreme age. With 
shrunken, leathery faces, they remind us somewhat 
of an exhumed Egyptian mummy. Their physical 
ailments are few, and when they come, they bear 
them with an iron fortitude and a stoical phil- 
osophy. Dyspepsia and fashionable nervous affec- 
tions are unknown. No Indian, I presume, ever 
had the neuralgia — blessed Indian ! His u medi- 
cine men " know and care nothing for modern 
therapeutical agents. He is here up with the 
times in the discoveries of medical science, and the 
application of remedial agents ; but with him the 
times are unchanged since the conquest of Mexico. 
It it thus he keeps abreast with a stagnant civiliza- 
tion. 

But take him as you find him in his fastnesses of 
rocks and mountains, living, as he does, I am com- 
pelled to say, that for fair dealing and proper de- 
meanor, he is better than his Mexican neighbor of 
the lower caste. His words and his contracts are 
better, with less perfidy and treachery. He has 
less gas and more good-heartedness : does his favors 
in silence, while the Mexican smears his with a 
hypocritical politeness, expecting a double reward 
for a dishonest performance. It is curious and in- 
teresting, to note how the Indian mother transports 
her offspring. No baby buggies have ever reached 
these altitudes, but with a fastening of cloth she 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 39 

swings him high on her back, and thus snugly 
tucked in, as if he was in a wicker basket, she 
trudges along weary leagues behind her brave, who 
precedes, burdened with his bow and arrows. She 
is the vehicle to move the children and the family 
supplies, while the Colonel " points the phalanx 
and directs the way." 

There are a few negroes living here also ; but 
"they are strangers in a stranger Ian d." They 
were not made for the mountains, nor were the 
mountains made for them. They are exotics, and 
can not become acclimated and fit their new en- 
vironments. They learn the language, strange to 
say, with a noticeable facility. Some few of them 
intermarry with the peon population, and, as it 
ever is, he soon descends to her level, for the hus- 
band seldom lifts up the wife ; but the wife drags 
down the husband to her social scale. The negro 
is courted by this class of the Mexican population. 
And by the rest of her associates, fortunate is she 
considered who can bind in matrimonial chains this 
sable son of Adam. She is regarded as marrying 
up, and not down, as some would suppose. The 
union is seldom a happy one, for in the course ot 
time, the negro, with more sense, sees his true re- 
lations, and finds that in a fatal moment his neck 
has become entangled in a rawhide noose, from 
which he would now, upon the slightest provoca- 
tion, free himself. He realizes, too late, his false 



40 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

step, taken in a moment of semi-delirious enthusi- 
asm, and now, when his head is cool, and his heart 
is colder, rightly calculates, " that she is not fit for 
any gentleman of color." These paints do n't mix 
well, and nature rebels against the blending of such 
colors. The alliance is unnatural, and therefore 
unequal. In intelligence, progressiveness and 
moral status, he is far her superior, and the class to 
which she belongs. To some of my readers this 
may appear incredible ; but it is nevertheless the 
truth. He is capable of improvement, and putting 
himself upon a higher plane of civilization, of 
better business capacities, and even comprehending 
the theory of government. Of such things neither 
she nor her forefathers have ever heard or dreamed ; 
but casemated in her abject stupidity and supersti- 
tion, she will live and die. But of the peon class 
I will treat more in the future, and now only make 
these incidental allusions and pass on to other 
features. 



CHAPTER VII. 

MINING. — WHAT IS REQUIRED. — SOME OBSERVA- 
TIONS. — UNCERTAINTY. 

Mining is the principal industry in the moun- 
tains ; other pursuits are made subsidiary to this. 
It is seldom you can go into a district without 
finding a number of mines for sale. It is also sel- 
dom you can find any of them of any value. 
Nearly all of them have a history, which, if be- 
lieved, would invest them with more than passing 
interest. Their true history is beclouded with the 
traditions which have settled upon them, these tra- 
ditions thickening and growing with the lapse of 
time. Some of these mines were worked prof- 
itably more than a century ago, and in some cases 
their entrances have been closed by the debris 
of many long years, and their very locations have 
been concealed and lost by the displacement of 
rocks, and the growth of the circumjacent timber. 
In many of the old churches, in some parts, are 
records of these mines, their discovery, workings, 
and output. But to recur : while you are asked to 
buy by many anxious to sell, were I to give a piece 

41 



42 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

of gratuitous advice, I would say in the matter, 
" Make haste slowly." The stories you hear may 
entertain you for the time, by their novelty and 
word-painting, but, my friend, hold fast your 
pocket-book until things are proven true. Be 
couvinced yourself before you turn a dollar loose 
in some hole in the ground with the expectation 
that it will in a few months place a hundred to 
your credit in the bank. Experts may be of some 
service to you ; from them you may learn some 
good ideas; make these ideas your own ; incorpo- 
rate them in your stock of knowledge, and then de- 
cide for yourself. Don't relinquish your judgment 
to any man, much less to any expert, many of 
whom for a consideration will report favorably for 
either party, for their information is a marketable 
commodity. The higher the price, the stronger 
the report. If there is any business which re- 
quires preeminently the exercise of common sense 
and grave judgment, it is that of mining. It is not 
a mere speculation, but a business, and should be 
conducted on business principles. And especially 
in making investments in such properties should 
one keep perfectly cool, uninfluenced by the highly- 
wrought colorings of sharpsters, who are ever on 
the alert for some " innocent abroad." Hear every- 
thing from everybody ; compare, digest, and then 
examine and conclude for yourself. If satisfied at 
last from the present condition of the property that 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 43 

it has a future and will pay, then the title should 
be carefully investigated, and leave no cloud hang- 
ing over its validity. While here the raining laws 
are liberal, perhaps the best in the world, yet the 
owner has only a conditional, defeasible title; can 
hold it only so long as he complies with the re- 
quirements of the mining code. It is imperatively 
necessary to work so many men so many weeks in 
the year in order to retain possession, and if there 
is an interregnum it is subject to the denouncement 
of other parties, who, hawk-like, are ever on the 
watch to take in such chances. 

Then if satisfied as to character of property and 
title, its facilities for being worked must be looked 
into to put it on as economic a basis as possible. 
The supplies of wood and water are most impor- 
tant items. Pasturage, too, is a matter of much 
moment, as many animals are needed in the ha- 
cienda. Transportation is a live question, and 
merits a careful consideration. In these parts 
nearly all the mining supplies come from San Fran- 
cisco, shipped either by steamer to Mazatlan or to 
El Paso, Texas, by rail, and from thence down the 
Mexican Central Railroad to Jimenez, and thence 
hauled to Parral, from which place it is packed into 
the mountains. The freight per ton costs from 
one hundred and twenty to one hundred and 
forty dollars. Often the freight and duties ex- 
ceed the prime cost. You will see it requires an 



44 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

excellent producing property to meet these heavy 
charges. 

Again, the character of the mine must be noted, 
whether easily worked or rebellious. If the metal 
is difficult of extraction, then what ingredients are 
necessary, and how shall they be used to facilitate 
the extraction. The property may be rich, but by 
no discovered process can it be made to yield up 
its precious value. In such a combination with 
other substances is it found that it is practically 
valueless to its owners. The character of the labor 
required and the amount obtainable requires care- 
ful study. Here nearly all the laborers are Mexi- 
cans, with the exception of skilled workmen, who 
are generally Americans. Mexican machinists are 
seldom seen. Now and then one can be found who 
can run an engine or a pump, but machinery is not 
his forte. Occasionally we may find a passable 
Mexican carpenter, but in the high branches of 
mechanics he is not at home. But few of them 
can be called skilled workmen, or, if so, they do 
not visit these parts. The Mexican laborer, if no 
task is given him, works against time. He works 
for himself, and not for the employer. But to 
task him is the only way to get the most out of 
him in the shortest time, for ordinarily he will, ii 
unwatched, consume more time devising dishonest 
expedients to defraud you than an honest perform- 
ance would require. But he prefers the former 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 45 

course, as it harmonizes with his nature and educa- 
tion. These are the men upon whom, for the most 
part, the investor must rely when he embarks his 
capital upon the uncertain sea of mining adven- 
ture. These are some of the more important facts 
to which every man should look before he turns a 
tame dollar loose in search of a wild one. Mining 
is a legitimate business, and may be conducted on 
legitimate principles, but mining boards are stock- 
gambling concerns, entailing wreck and ruin in their 
operations. While the celebrated Comstock Mines 
contributed several hundred millions to the wealth 
of the world, yet the gamblers in her stocks 
wrought so much ruin, and carried desolation to so 
many homes, far and near, it is scarcely a question 
that for the time more evil than good came from its 
development. 

I have read somewhere that the statistics will 
show that ninety-seven per cent of merchants en- 
gaged in business for more than twenty years will 
at some time become bankrupt. I am not prepared 
with the statistics of mining men, but suppose with 
them fortune is equally as fickle. With modern 
appliances but few mines now remain unexhausted 
so long a period. For mines, like all earthly 
things, have their beginnings and their end, con- 
trary to the exploded theory of the old writers 
who maintained that the deeper you went the bet- 
ter the metal. The beginning and the end of the 



46 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 






metal along the line of the vein is limited by non- 
metaliferous rock. So one, after having made up his 
mind to go into an enterprise of this kind, must be 
prepared to take his chances and submit to the de- 
cree of fortune. 

But a word of caution here : no man ought to 
put a dollar in a mine unless he can afford to lose 
it without embarrassment. People who sell their 
lands, houses and homes to engage in such pursuits 
are near the border land of idiocy. The husband 
who would take his wife's money for such a busi- 
ness ought not to be trusted longer unconfined in 
any well ordered community. The guardian who 
would thus invest his ward's funds commits a 
crime, and the court that would sanction such an 
investment deserves impeachment. Mining is such 
a fascinating business, with hope ever in the van 
with her alluring signals, that almost any sweet- 
lipped, oily-tongued talker, promising extravagant 
returns on the investment can charm into his pock- 
ets the hard-earned dollars from the pockets of 
others. The old leather purse, tied in the middle 
with a string, which has been sleeping E,ip Van 
Winkle-like for years must awake, and turn out at 
the touch of this magician's wand. This persua- 
sive elocutionist may not be deceived himself, 
but fortunate for the community if the evil ef- 
fects of his rhetoric are forgotten in years. There 
is just enough of the lottery in it to popular- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 47 

ize it, and make acceptable its extravagant prom- 
ises. 

The fact is there is deep down in the heart of 
almost every man the love of chance. Did you 
ever think of it? I believe the principle is al- 
most universal. I know of no nationality where 
games of chance are not practiced. There seems 
to be in the human heart a predisposition to such 
things, and the gratification of this is sought, as 
we see in a variety of ways, but each having in it 
that seductive element of chance. Hence we find 
men in every vocation investing in mining stocks. 
The lawyer stops in the middle of his brief to turn 
in his last-earned fee in the " gilt-edged security." 
The doctor's prescription is left half written, con- 
vinced suddenly of the great certainty of mining 
returns. From the hard hands of honest toil, the 
dollars to be seen no more slip into the soft, dis- 
honest hands of stock manipulators and mining 
gamblers. Even farmers, and the sons of farmers, 
deceived by half truths and whole lies, are at times 
induced to go into the business for which they are 
not fitted, either by nature or education, and soon, 
if there are no homestead exemptions, homsteads, too, 
must go to meet their indiscreet obligations. These 
words are the voice of caution and the sounds of 
warning. If they will only serve to check hasty 
and ill-advised investments I shall feel that I have 
been an instrument of good and amply repaid for 



48 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

having written them. It is seldom prudent men 
will engage in enterprises of which they know 
nothing ; should they do so it must be near home 
and one with which they can soon familiarize 
themselves. But men will engage in mining thou- 
sands of miles away, and of which they are utterly 
ignorant. The business must necessarily be in the 
hands of representatives, and however good these 
may be, it is not so satisfactory as when under their 
own immediate supervision. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

BE CAUTIOUS AS TO MINING INVESTMENTS — DIS- 
TRICTS. — BALOPILAS. — GALENA. — CUERVO. — 
GAUDELOUPE Y CALVO. 

I do not wish it inferred from what I have writ- 
ten that I would discourage all mining investments, 
for it is a legitimate business, as I have before 
stated, and should be pursued in a legitimate man- 
ner and not treated as if it were wholly a lottery. 
While there are hundreds of worthless mines 
palmed off upon a too confiding community as 
good properties, there are, on the other hand, mines 
of intrinsic value, real worth, and which will be made 
to yield splendid profits. Nothing scarcely pays like 
a good mine] well managed; the profits are often 
enormous. But a good mine badly managed, or a 
bad mine well managed, is a property the sooner 
you get rid of the better. If you hold it you must 
incur heavy expenditures without corresponding 
benefits. But when convinced that a certain mine 
is a good property upon the most searching investi- 
gation, then work it judiciously, looking to the 
average product and not to the expectations of 

3 49 



60 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

daily bonanzas, which seldom come and seldom 
stay. One should not be too sanguine in ^mining; 
it will save him from many painful disappoint- 
ments if he will keep perfectly cool, and remain 
unexcited in the face of hopeful signs and most 
promising indications. It is something about 
which you can not argue. You can neither reason 
metal into a rock nor out of it. There is an old 
saying that "all signs fail in dry weather. " And 
particularly is it true in reference to rocks, that 
frequently all signs of metal are but deceptive illu- 
sions. We know that there are certain formations 
which may carry metal, while we know that there 
are certain others which do not, and that these 
simple truths are confirmed by the experience of 
ages. 

In the Sierra Madre I must say that there are 
some fine mines, some comparatively new, and some 
old. And right here I would say, if you would in- 
vest in mines in this country, be exceedingly cau- 
tious about purchasing old mines — those which 
have been worked and abandoned. The Mexican 
never leaves anything valnble in sight ; so if he 
has left anything at all worthy of the name it is 
because of its inaccessibility. This may come from 
want of adequate machinery in former times, or 
from now being submerged in water. But never 
pay the least attention to the word of any Mexican 
or any of his " able-bodied relations " as to the 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 51 

fine quality of the ore now under water, which you 
can not see. In this case seeing is far better than 
faith ; faith in an unscrupulous liar. Buy from him 
nothing unseen ; take the water out, if it costs a few 
hundred dollars, and see the bottom, it may save 
you many thousands and much misspent time. In 
such matters a Mexican's word, were he to swear 
by all the saints in the calendar and cross himself 
a hundred times, would only emphasize my disbe- 
lief in the correctness of his statement. Clouds of 
witnesses will confirm this observation, some ol 
them having abundant reasons for their opinions. 
But new mines are always to be preferred, when 
obtainable, for many reasons. Of this character 
there are mines in the mountains which will come 
to light in the future and enrich their owners. 
Mining districts, as they are called, certain territo- 
rial divisions, generally have within their limits the 
same character of mines. Hence, in examining a 
certain mine to ascertain its probable character, the 
question is a most pertinent one, What is the char- 
acter of the other mines in the said district? If 
they are deep or shallow, then this one is most 
likely to be the same. This is a good starting 
point in the examination. Certain districts pro- 
duce native silver, as in the Batopilas district, 
some six days journey from here ; in others native 
silver is not seen. 

And here I may remark that the latter, rather 



52 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

than the former, is to be preferred, as it is much 
more probable to continue. In mines producing 
native silver it is a " feast or a famine," a bonanza 
or nothing. When these bonanzas are struck the 
output is very large while they last, but when ex- 
hausted you may work on for a year or so, and get 
nothing until you develop another. 

Not so with the other class of mines. Where 
the metal is well distributed the profits are regular 
and uniform, which is much more satisfactory. In 
some mines gold without silver is found, but this 
is seldom here the case. Often in going down the 
gold gives out, but is then succeeded by the silver, 
the gold being the later formation. Often the sil- 
ver is found without the gold, or but a perceptible 
trace of it. But frequently the gold and silver co- 
exist and are in value in nearly the same propor- 
tions. These metals live very harmoniously to- 
gether. Since the great depreciation of silver of 
late years gold-bearing mines are more eagerly 
sought and highly appreciated. Again, mines 
yielding gold exclusively, in its reduction its ex- 
penses are comparatively light, the processes fewer, 
and the machinery much the cheaper. In conse- 
quence of this fact gold mines of much lower grade 
than silver can be profitably worked. But, as the 
grade goes down, the capacity of the mill must be 
increased, so as to put through and make up in in- 
creased quantity. In some portions of the United 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 53 

States there are mills of one hundred stamps capa- 
city, crushing from two huudred to two hundred 
and fifty tons daily. 

The largest mill known to me in this section has 
only forty stamps, some two days from this place, 
within the borders of the State of Sinaloa. It is a 
good property and is owned by an English Com- 
pany, and has been shipping monthly about fifty 
thousand dollars. This is an old mine with a new 
company, which lias expended upon it, I learn, 
nearly two millions of dollars. They have made 
extensive and costly improvements. The ore car- 
ries no gold and is very rebellious, and its success- 
ful treatment requires great skilL Near it are sev- 
eral good properties, which are being worked with 
more or less profit. To the south of this place 
some twenty -five miles are the Galena and Cuervo 
mines, now operated by a Texas organization. The 
latter named was brought somewhat prominently 
before the public some years since by reason of 
Tennessee's State Treasurer having been connected 
with it. These are believed to be good properties 
and promise well in the future. They are old 
mines with fine records. 

The mine at this place was discovered in 1835. 
Was for many years leased to an English company, 
which from well authenticated sources took out 
many millions of dollars. Upon the expiration of 
the English lease referred to it was worked by the 



54 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

Mexican owners for many years with much profit, 
until, it is said, such a depth was reached that the 
machinery then employed was inadequate to clear 
it of water. So after being submerged for many 
years it passed into the hands of the company now 
working it, a Tennessee organization. After mak- 
ing the utmost allowance for the extravagant state- 
ment concerning the yield of this property in 
former years, enough yet remains undisputed to 
say that a great many million dollars were ex- 
tracted. From the best data I can gather from 
different sources, probaby more than thirty millions. 
It is an immense fissure vein with the boldest crop- 
pings I have ever seen. It carries a high percent- 
age of gold, as often the bullion is more valuable 
in gold than silver. The gold continues to the low- 
est depths reached, indicating at least the continuance 
of the silver to a still greater depth. Such was the 
immense yield here and the product of the neigh- 
boring mines that many years ago it necessitated 
the erection of a mint at this place. The building, 
with its portholes for defense, still stands, the 
finest in this section of the country, costing proba- 
bly more than one hundred thousand dollars. The 
mint machinery was costly, and many of its pieces 
were very heavy, requiring a great number of men 
to pack them over the mountains. There are some 
pieces of machinery whicli can not be so sectionized 
as to reduce their weight to the packing capacity of 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 55 

these small mountain mules. To these men hitch 
on in great numbers, and with levers and fasten- 
ings transport them to the desired point. The 
Chinese are said to move the heaviest iron safes, by 
means of their great numbers, the burden in some 
ingenious way being so distributed that each one 
aids in the undertaking. The Mexicans rally 
numbers to the task, and in the same way, too, ac- 
complish their object, but apparently in the most 
awkward manner. As an illustration of their way, 
I will here mention the fact, if they wish to move 
a log, they do not do so by putting the handspike 
under it and thus lifting it, but they put it on top, 
and then tie it to the log before they proceed to 
lift it at all. 

But I see I am digressing somewhat from the 
mine, and return to make some additional remarks 
concerning the same, and the mode of mining gen- 
erally practiced in the county. This may be a 
matter of interest to some readers. The apology 
I offer for particular reference to this property is 
that it is historic, and also with it I am better ac- 
quainted than with others. Many years ago the 
village is said to have had a population of ten 
thousand people subsisting in one way or the other 
upon the mine. After it ceased to be worked for 
a great many years its reduced population is said 
to have lived upon working over and over its dump 
pile. The excavation along the line of the ledge 



*6 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

is nearly two thousand feet, its width varying from 
six feet to sixty, and its depth in the deepest shaft 
nearly five hundred feet. It is quartz formation, 
very hard, with encasing walls of porphyry. It is 
said to have furnished sufficient metal for sixteen 
large haciendas, the ruins of which are now seen 
for many miles below the village. 



CHAPTER IX. 

DYNAMITE. — BLASTING. — METAL STEALING. — RE- 
CEIVERS. — PERILS OF MINERS. 

The art of mining, like that of war, was revolu- 
tionized by the invention of gunpowcUr. I am 
told that in some eastern countries, and in Japan, 
tunnels may be found driven for hundreds of feet 
without the use of powder. They kindled fires in 
the face of the drift, and when sufficiently hot, 
they cast upon it water, and in this way, by peace- 
meal, broke their way forwards, after so long a 
time. Dynamite was a great improvement upon 
the common black powder, which, in mining, has 
now almost gone into disuse. But the introduc- 
tion of this powerful agent is, comparatively speak- 
ing, of but recent date. It is harmless in appear- 
ance, resembling sawdust, and may with impunity 
be cast into the fire without any expolsion ; but 
strike it with a hard substance, or give it a sudden 
concussion, and then " the trouble begins." It is 
said to expend its force principally downwards, and 
hence, lay a charge of it on a rock unconfined, and 
its discharge will shiver to atoms the rock beneath 
57 



58 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

it. Holes are drilled with steel bars into the 
metal-bearing rock from one to five feet, charged 
with dynamite, or giant powder, as it is called, and 
then exploded by firing a fuse, at the lower end of 
which is a cap, containing a fulminating substance 
that has been previously inserted in the charge of 
powder. When a number of these are to be fired 
at the same time in the same working, it is attended 
with much danger, and sometimes loss of life. For 
after the fuse is lighted, it is necessary for the per- 
son doing so " to go at once, and not stand upon 
the order of his going" — up a ladder, anywhere to 
some secure retreat, for giant powder, like time and 
tide, wait for no man. If there is a premature dis- 
charge, or a failure for some reason to " go off," 
then the probabilities are somebody will get hurt. 
If there is a failure to " go off," then the effort to 
dig out that shot, or make it effective, must be 
made with the greatest caution. Being a prudent 
man, and not wishing to intermeddle with the 
business of others, especially where that is of such 
a delicate nature, I retire until the "trouble is 
over." The shots are now fired in many mines/by in 
electric battery, at times separately, at others sim- 
ultaneously, and with greater effectiveness under 
certain conditions. 

There is great art displayed in this branch of 
mining, requiring intelligence, careful observation, 
and much experience. The fact is, intelligent labor 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO, 59 

is much better in every department of life; will ac- 
complish more, with less cost and in less time. 
There is a head man who directs the ordinary Mex- 
ican miner how, and where, to place his shots. He 
is paid for what he drills, and not otherwise, and if 
he were not directed, he would drill in the softest 
place, and the least time possible, caring for naught 
else than his contract money. Generally, the 
miners divide themselves in pairs — one holds and 
turns the drill, while the other strikes it, and from 
time to time exchange places. Frequently, at the 
foot of the shaft, or in front of the tunnel, are 
found a crucifix and burning candle, where they 
hold their services ere the labor of the day begins. 
I will not say this does not mean anything, but 
only this, and nothing more, that it is no safeguard 
against their stealing any choice piece of metal 
which they may find during that day. With the 
Psalmist they say, fi the earth is the Lord's, and the 
fullness thereof," and especially the mines, and the 
fullness thereof, are His, and not man's, and whose 
claims to which he practically and persistently 
ignores on every possible occasion. At many 
mines ante-rooms are provided for the miners, 
where they exchange their clothing for a working 
habit, which consists of a piece of cotton cloth tied 
around their bodies, and upon coming out after 
their work is finished, they are subjected to a 
search, to see if they have stolen anything. Yet, 



60 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICOr \ 

notwithstanding these precautions, they manage to 
steal a great deal. They resort to the most novel 
and ingenious devices to conceal stolen metal, 
hiding it in their hair, in their mouths, and other 
parts of their bodies, often to the great peril of 
their lives. Between the bottoms of their feet and 
the pieces of sole leather underneath, called guar- 
aches (pronounced vvayrach-ies), they carry it in 
considerable quantities. The fewest number, when 
an opportunity is presented, can resist the tempta- 
tion. Moral principle has but little to do in the 
direction of their conduct at this point. With 
them, as with the old Spartans, as already stated the 
crime consists not so much in the stealing, as in its 
being found out. They can always readily dispose 
of their ill-gotten gains, to those willing and anx- 
ious to buy at a reduced valuation. In fact, they 
arc encouraged to steal by these receivers of stolen 
goods, against whom the law is a dead letter. I 
will venture the assertion, that there are more re- 
ceivers of stolen goods to the square mile adjacent 
to the mining camps in Mexico, than in any other 
portion of the habitable globe. There seems to be 
no punishment for this class of offenders, or if one 
is promulged by the law, it is a mere empty paper 
bull, and, in fact, without vitality. And, strange 
to say, many so-called respectable merchants will 
purchase from these thieves, with full knowledge 
of the facts, and if an effort is made to reclaim 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 61 

your property, will laugh in your face for your in- 
termeddling. Here I have never known one to be 
punished as a receiver of stolen goods. Often the 
owner is compelled to buy his own property back, 
when stolen, from the thief. Of course, this 
stimulates a repetition of the offense j but there are 
times and situations when certain articles are stolen 
that it is absolutely indispensable to recover them 
in almost any way, or stop your business at a very 
heavy loss. It is a dose of humiliating medicine 
for which we do not cry to take, as vermifuge 
venders report the children as doing for their worm- 
expelling nostrums. The authorities render you 
but little assistance in such cases ; but as to the 
character and efficiency of these, I will take occa- 
sion hereafter to speak. 

The life of a miner is one of peril. Hundreds 
of feet deep down in the earth, he is working with 
his dim light, and with hundreds of feet above him 
of overhanging walls. These incline at certain 
angles, giving to them the appearance as if in the 
act of falling, when viewed upwards, and the vein 
matter between them having been taken out from 
top to bottom, he is at the mercy of falling sub- 
stances, the lightest of which may jeopard his life. 
These walls, especially in rainy seasons, often give 
way, and with a mighty crash go thundering below, 
to the entombment of the living. It is a marvel if 
one escapes from the heartrending catastrophe. 



62 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

Their wives and children come to the spot, they 
can go no further, their lamentations fill the upper 
air, while the seal of the sepulchre is upon their 
buried ones below. Suffocating gases kill many. 
Accidents are many from falling rocks and timbers, 
from broken ladders and breaking machinery, 
from carelessness in many ways, from missteps in 
ascending or descending ladders hundreds of feet, 
with dim lights and heavy burdens. While the 
law throws every guard around them for their pro- 
tection, and exacts the most rigid observance of its 
rules for their preservation, yet such is the nature 
of the business, its perils so frequent, that many 
lives are sacrificed notwithstanding the precautions 
required and observed. Again, a familiarity with 
danger begets indifference and carelessness, causing 
many deaths. The law requires here, that if an 
accident occurs in a mine, whether trivial or serious, 
that it should be immediately reported to the chief 
political authority of the place. The purpose of 
this is, that an investigation may be made, and sub- 
ject the delinquent owners to some punishment 
commensurate with the gravity of the offense. 
Miners, like mariners, by reason of their habits of 
life, are the especial pets of the law, and around 
whom it throws its peculiar guardianship. And 
that it is so, is well, for there does not exist a more 
reckless and improvident class than these. He 
works just enough to get the actual necessaries of 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 63 

life, and this from day to day. He does not see a 
month ahead of him, and does n't care to look into 
the future so far. He may be happy in that he 
does not anticipate trouble, never crossing the 
bridge before he reaches it. He works some six or 
seven hours in the twenty-four, in which he can 
generally make from one dollar to one dollar and a 
half. During the same time an American miner 
would make nearly twice as much. But when this 
is made, the Mexican suspends operations for that 
day. Whether he has many or few in his house- 
hold to provide tor, it is all the same to him, his 
task, at least, is done, and he can trust to the future 
to supply the future's wants. With him it is not 
an exhibition of faith in the providence of God ; 
but on his part purely an exhibition of reckless 
improvidence. Some few of them may be im- 
pelled by different motives. When the Hon. 
Hannibal Hamlin was Minister to Spain, some 
years since, observing that an excellent shoemaker 
there only worked a small portion of his time, he 
inquired of him why, with his capacity for making 
money, he did not work more and lay up something 
for to-morrow. To this the knight of the last, in 
justifying his course, replied interrogatively, for the 
Spanish race, " Ah, senor, who has promised us to- 
morrow ? " Thus he manifested his realization of 
the fact, that no future moment is given until the 
present is taken away. 



CHAPTER X. 

GAMBLING. — ITS RESULTS. — HOW METAL IS TAKEN 
FROM MINES AT TIMES. — FIRST EXPERIENCE IN 
GOING DOWN LADDERS. 

For gambling they have an intense passion, and 
will bet their last cent upon the turn of a tlaco, a 
small copper coin. Men with large families, un- 
provided with two meals, will sit down on the 
roadside, on their way home, and gamble away 
their week's earnings in a few moments. Young 
and old indulge in this vicious sport. With some 
it almost seems a species of insanity. They will 
play anywhere, everywhere, with anybody, every- 
body, to gratify this mad passion. No reverence 
of person, or sacredness of place deters them for a 
minute ; all things else are engulfed in this all-ab- 
sorbing passion. These gamblers would not hesi- 
tate to gamble for the privilege of tabling their 
games upon the tomb-stones of their wives and 
children, did they possess them, so dead have 
they become to the nobler virtues, and lost to the 
holier impulses of the heart. The little children 
in the streets, taught by the pernicious example of 
64 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 65 

older ones, perchance their fathers, have already 
become embyro gamblers, and unrebuked by any, 
give rich promise of poor, wasted lives. The chil- 
dren are the children of the State ; but the official 
guardians turn them loose unrestrainedly, to riot in 
profligacy, and through such excesses to rush on to 
ruin. This vicious policy betrays bad morals and 
bad statesmanship, and will, in the end, react upon 
the welfare of the commonwealth. 

Those considered the most respectable — the 
high-toned— probably gamble the more, as they 
have greater opportunities for doing so. But few 
are exempt from the pernicious practice. And 
they will gamble with anything, and for anything. 
Parents and children, men and women, crowding to 
the same places, night and day, and betting against 
each other all they have, not even excepting the 
clothing worn by them at the time. And on some 
festal occasions, I am told, Governors will grace 
them with their presence, and will dignify their 
high office by playing with the rabble a few games 
of chance. With such examples for imitation and 
encouragement, the common people may be judged 
the more charitably, for failing to find in the prac- 
tice any iniquity. But never before, as here, to me 
has its evil effects been so apparent. It robs 
women and children, clothes them in rags, sends 
them hungry to comfortless beds, to arise in the 
morning hungrier still. The morning birds wor- 

4 



66 k THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

ship with songs in the groves, " God's first 
temples," but then these poor, unfed ones, the vic- 
tims of this vice, send on high, from saddened 
hearts and cheerless homes, no thanksgiving songs. 
Say what you will, emptiness of stomach is un- 
favorable to holiness of heart. Christ fed the 
hungry multitude with the loaves and fishes, when 
he was feeding them with the bread of life. 
Habitual hunger tends to discontentedness, and 
this drifts into impiety. I paint the picture from 
scenes of life around me. They are too sadly real 
to ask the aid of imagination for coloring. 

But the poorer classes are the greater sufferers 
from this vice. In mining districts the common 
laborers reap more largely the consequences of this 
vile habit; those men who dig in the mines and 
lift out its rock ; those, who underneath the 
earth for many fathoms, toil night and day, with- 
out sun and stars, with sledge and steel to release 
the imprisoned metals from " adamantine chains." 
The fruit of the labors of those whose duty it is to 
take the metal, when broken within, to the surface 
without, goes in the same way. That such is the 
case, to describe their labors may make you the 
more readily realize the iniquity. The miners 
blast the rock and leave it where broken; after this 
it is removed by others, packed on their backs, 
either to an underground car, which runs to the 
shaft, to be hoisted to the surface, and thence to 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 67 

the mill, or the metal is packed by them np many 
flights of ladders, to the outside, where it is for the 
time deposited. These ladders — to be called such 
is a mis-nomer— are nothing more than long pine 
poles, from six to eight inches in diameter, with 
notches cut in the same, for steps, at regular inter- 
vals. They are similar in appearance, though 
somewhat larger, than the notched poles in an old- 
fashioned country hen-house. Upon these ladders 
will the "burden-bearer" go, with one hundred 
and fifty to two hundred pounds of rock in a 
leathern bag, with a light in one hand, and the 
other resting on the ladder, as a security against 
accident. 

The broad, leather strap, fastened to the bag, 
comes over the top of his head, which bears up the 
burden, while it is retained in position at bottom 
by resting on his back. This is the way he makes 
his living, and earns it just as honestly as any fugi- 
tive cashier or railroad wrecker. You may think 
it is a hard way to " raise the wind," and it is, but 
he " blows it in " all the same. We are told that 
the limbs of the human body most exercised will 
be most developed, and as an illustration, see the 
arms of the blacksmith. That will account, I pre- 
sume, for the little brains and immense necks some 
of these fellows have. The former have been 
compressed by the leather strap weighted with 
heavy burdens, while the muscles of the neck have 



68 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

been, from long usage, enlarged and strengthened. 
This they have practiced since they were small 
boys, and now, when grown, can carry incredible 
loads. But in no other way do they exhibit their 
strength, as one good-sized laboring American, 
under a log, will lift more than two or three of 
them. But from long training he can carry the 
most surprising loads up those long flights of 
steps; practice has given such muscular develop- 
ment. But should he make a misstep, or lose his 
balance while ascending, the rock and the Mexican 
will be found below — the rock unhurt, but a few 
pieces of clothing, and a scattered Mexican, will be 
the remains for an impromptu funeral procession. 
Now, the pay of these men is generally from 
seventy-five cents to one dollar, and if it were 
three times as much, it would all go in the same 
way ; no forethought, no idea of economy ; but 
what remains after getting the scantiest necessaries , 
of life, he gambles and drinks away. His is truly 
an unhealthy and perilous life, exposed to ever- 
present danger, to noxious gases, and thoroughly 
wet from day to day from dripping rock. 

One's first experience in going up and down 
these mining ladders is not soon forgotten. He 
may forget the hickory entertainments of his be- 
loved school -master, the domestic chastenings for j 
failing to lift more rapidly the dasher of the family 
churn, even the faces of his creditors may change 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 69 

beyond a street recognition, but he will never for- 
get the time, the first time, he attempted to go 
down the succession of poles several hundred feet 
below. However great he may have felt a few 
minutes before, outside, now, when within, and on 
the down grade, that greatness he feels is dwarfed 
into utter helplessness in the presence of a paralyz- 
ing fear. Coolness, steady nerves, and strong reso- 
lutions, are necessary if you would become a suc- 
cess as a mid-air performer. While I have become 
familiar with these aerial voyages, yet I have never 
cultivated such a fondness for them as to give 
them the preference over many other modes of 
travel, for example, " a Pullman palace sleeper." 
These notched pine poles were introduced, I think, 
by the Spaniards, used by the Mexicans and In- 
dians, and now sometimes adopted by the Ameri- 
cans. They must be used at the bottom of the 
shaft, when being sunk, as the other kinds would 
soon be broken by the blasting rocks. 



CHAPTER XI. 

METAL. — WHERE FOUND. — HOW EXTRACTED. — 
FAILINGS.— RETORTING. 

As it may be instructive to some of my readers, 
I will tell how the metal is taken from the rock, 
for at last that is the end of the whole business. 
The gold, the silver, is in one sense the product, 
the end of labor, its very quintessence. Nights and 
days of labor, with all the necessary cares and 
troubles, end here at last, compressed in a few 
shiuing pieces of metal, the representatives of 
value. But how much toil, headaches, and heart- 
aches are expressed by these little pieces of metal ! 
And they are small to be the representatives of so 
much value, value in time, physical and mental 
exertion. Think of it, one ton of silver, Troy 
measure, is worth $37,709 50, and one cubic foot of 
the same, $12,355 20. One ton of gold, same 
measure, is worth $602,927 36; while one cubic 
foot of the same, weighing a little more than 1,200 
lbs., runs up to $361, 808 64. Did nature not put 
up her precious values in small packages, then we 
might the more frequently hear of men as being the 
70 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 71 

owners, not of so many herds and lands, stocks and 
bonds, but of so many cubic feet of gold? 

The metal is found diffused through the rocks, 
sometimes visible and sometimes not. This rock 
may be quartz, sandstone, limestone, or some other 
formation. It is taken from the mine to the mill to 
be crushed into a powder. It first passes through a 
machine called a rockbreaker, reducing its size to 
that of walnuts or hickory nuts. After this it passes 
to the battery which consists of heavy iron stamps 
weighing each, generally, about seven hundred and 
fifty pounds. These have a fall of about seven 
inches, and drop ninety times to the minute, crushing 
the rock to the finest powder, and which is then 
conveyed to tanks. After this it is taken from the 
tanks into which it has gone from the battery, and 
placed in large pans of one and two tons capacity, 
where it is kept in constant agitation from three to 
eight hours by the application of steam to swiftly 
revolving mechanical appliances. The pulp, or 
powder, in the pans has been mixed with warm 
water, and certain chemical agents have been intro- 
duced to break down the refractory nature of the 
ore, and make it susceptible to the action of the 
quicksilver in the pans, which, possessing a strong 
affinity for the gold and silver, acts upon, and 
amalgamates them. By this is meant, that the 
quicksilver takes up the metal ic particles by its 
chemical attraction for these substances. A good 



72 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

battery, with Dew stamps, will crush about twenty 
tons of rock in twenty-four hours. This, however, 
will depend much upon the character of the rock, 
whether hard or soft, and the fineness of the screen 
through which it must pass. From the pans it is 
drawn off into large settlers, where it is kept in 
constant motion for hours, after which it is con- 
veyed in sluice boxes to the tailings pit. That 
which goes out of the settler is called tailings, and 
their value consists in the metal remaining in them, 
which escaped amalgation. These tailings are 
often worked over after the lapse of time, during 
which time they have lain in a pile, undergoing 
chemical changes, when subjected to the action of 
the sunlight and air. 

The amalgam is made up of quicksilver and the 
gold and silver in combination. This, then, is 
placed in a retort, communicating with which, is 
an open, iron tube, at the farther end enclosed in a 
water jacket, at the extremity of which, is a vessel 
for catching the quicksilver, coming, when con- 
densed, from the retort, under which has ^been 
kindled a good fire. The fire soon vaporizes the 
quicksilver, which passes into the water-enclosed 
tube, and is condensed and runs down to the place 
of deposits, from which it is taken and again used 
as before. In this way the quicksilver is separated 
from the metal, leaving this as the residuum. Now 
the metal is melted and run into bars, for ship- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 73 

merit to the mints. After melting, the bars are 
essayed, to ascertain their value in gold and silver, 
if mixed. A certain quantity is weighed, say ten 
grains, cupelled in a muffle, then reweighed, to as- 
certain loss, by which its fineness is learned. The 
button, after cupellation, is subjected to the action 
of nitric acid, when the silver is taken up in solu- 
tion, leaving the gold precipitated. The gold is 
thus dried, after the silver solution has been poured 
off, and weighed, and in this mode is ascertained 
the gold and silver value of the bar. The most 
sensitive scales are required to reach accurate re- 
sults. 

Such, in brief outline, is the process by which 
the ingenuity of man extracts the metal from the 
unwilling rocks. 



CHAPTER XII. 



ASSAYING. 



Now, in passing along, I will tell yon how the 
value of the rock is ascertained. Its proper treat- 
ment, as well as its value, is learned from repeated 
assays, by changing the chemicals, diminishing or 
stopping some of them, or putting in other ingre- 
dients and effecting new combinations. The meth- 
ods for doing this have been greatly improved 
within the last half a century. Results from old 
processes formerly were not obtainable for many 
days, now by the application of improved machin- 
ery and the science of chemistry the same results 
may be realized in a few hours. The process de- 
scribed is called " pan amalgamation," necessitating 
the use of quicksilver. But there are other pro- 
cesses, called respectively smelting and lixiviation. 
The nature of the ore, its ingredients, and the com- 
bination will determine the nature of treatment. 
In amalgamation roasting may not be necessary, in 
lixiviation it is indispensable, and in smelting the 
rock is placed in furnaces with proper fluxes and 
melted, the precious metals falling to the bottom 
74 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 75 

by their greater specific gravity, leaving the slag 
above, which is tapped and drawn off through lat- 
eral openings. Each process has its advantages 
dependent upon certain conditions, and the amount 
treated in a given period upon the capacity of the 
plant. Mills of less than five stamps are rarely 
seen, except when used by the prospector, but some 
possess as many as one hundred and twenty, these 
crushing from two hundred and fifty to three hun- 
dred tons daily. Many devices have been invented 
of late years to supersede the use of stamps and 
go under the name of " rolls/' " crushers," and 
" pulverizers," but up to this time the merits of 
none have been so marked as to induce general 
commendation. The fact is, I think, that in con- 
sequence of their cost and their short lives they have 
been much more successful in pulverizing their stock- 
holders than the ore. I knew a company once that 
brought a certain pulverizer, so called, from San 
Francisco here, some years since, after so long a 
time "turned her loose," and within thirty days it 
wore itself completely out from top to bottom, 
from " stem to stern." As the injudicious experi- 
ment cost much time and several thousand dollars, 
there is not a stockholder in the concern but that 
will vote himself thoroughly " pulverized." And 
I venture if these gentlemen were asked again to 
reinvest in any machinery sailing under such a 
designation, the Recorder's Court next morning 



76 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

would have for trial a high-toned case of assault 
and battery. This is not the place for the intro- 
duction of new-fangled notions, but only for those 
which have been tried, and after many years ap- 
proved by the most practical men. It is too far 
from a base of supplies, transportation is too diffi- 
cult and expensive to indulge in experiment. I 
say this much for the benefit of those who may 
hereafter contemplate working mining properties in 
these mountains. 

A simple assay is made by taking, say two hun- 
dred and forty grains of the powdered rock, mix- 
ing this with fluxes, say lead, litharge, borax, soda, 
in given quantities, and then melting the whole in 
a crucible or scorifying it in a muffle. When 
melted well pour same in button-shaped mould, 
the lead, the gold and silver in union being the 
heavier, will go to the bottom, leaving the slag 
above, which, with one lick of the hammer, flies 
off. You then take the lead button and cupel it in 
a bonedust cupel with a strong heat. The porous- 
ness of the cupel will absorb the foreign substances 
and the heat will vaporize the lead, leaving at the 
conclusion a small round button composed exclu- 
sively of gold and silver, where only these ele- 
ments exist in the metal. You then take and weigh 
the button, and by referring to the standard table 
of value learn its worth. The gold is separated 
from the silver in the mode hereinbefore indicated. 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 77 

This, in simple language, is a summary of the pro- 
cess ordinarily used. But to be a good assayer re- 
quires much study and long experience; in fact, 
one should be a good chemist and have a good 
laboratory at his command. But with a little 
practice almost any one can know "coarse" assay- 
ing, to employ an expressive term used by my 
friend John E. Handle, of Memphis, Tennessee, in 
reference to a knowledge of law; he said he knew 
coarse law as well as anybody; but as to fine law he 
confessed himself at sea. So a faithful and efficient 
assayer is a valuable adjunct to any hacienda, for 
upon the accuracy of his knowledge, and his watch- 
fulness thousands are made or lost. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

BULLION TRAINS. — COMPARATIVE SAFETY. — FAC- 
TIONS. — REVOLUTIONS. 

From the mountains all bullion is packed to 
Culiacan or to Parral, from which latter point it is 
taken by stage to Jiminez, and from thence by the 
Mexico Central Railroad to the mint in Chihuahua. 
The bullion in bars is securely fastened upon the 
backs of mules, placed in charge of some trusty 
man, who takes with him well-armed guards suffi- 
cient in numbers to repel any assaulting party. 
Sometimes with only two or three men he will carry 
out ten or fifteen thousand dollars, and return with 
the same escort, bringing in from five to ten thou- 
sand dollars in coin. Strange to say, it is very 
rare, indeed, that these trains are ever molested. 
Robbers of bullion, if immediately pursued, could 
hardly escape on account of its weight, and to avoid 
capture must abandon it in their flight. While Con- 
ductas have gone from these parts for many years, 
yet the oldest inhabitant can not tell you of one 
which has been captured and robbed. This may 
be thought a singular fact, and it is such, but it is 
78 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 79 

an undisputed fact, however. How long do you 
suppose such a train would be unmolested, its direc- 
tion and time of departure being well known, were 
it to start from any of our cities in any direction 
for such a distance ? Probably it would not travel 
half a day before the whole outfit would be " gob^ 
bled up." If, then, express cars are rifled and 
hundreds of passengers made to stand and deliver 
by the persuasive revolver in the hands of desper- 
ate men, how long, I again ask, would a pack train 
such as described, go undisturbed ? The question 
provokes a smile, and the answer is known ere it is 
spoken. But in making the contrast the question 
will not down, u Is civilization a failure ?" I think 
not. Then there are a great many more people 
there than here, from which we may reasonably 
conclude that there are many more lawless persons. 
There, if the robbers are captured, punishment is 
neither swift nor certain. An ignorant jury, the 
law's delays, technical trivialities, furnish obstruc- 
tions to the speedy coming of justice. Here, if on 
the highway a robber makes an assault and is cap- 
tured, the law compels the officer living nearest to 
the place where the offense was committed to try 
him, and, if proven guilty, to have him executed 
within twelve days. And the same rule obtains as 
to railroad wreckers and those who cut the tele- 
graph lines used by the railroads. These miscre- 
ants have no "jury of their peers," but some offi- 



80 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

cial from the vicinage, who " sits down " on them, 
and when he gets up they stay down. This sudden 
and swift retribution strikes terror to the lawless 
element, and is one of the strongest safeguards to 
society. Again, in this country, as nearly every 
one is more or less, directly or indirectly, inter- 
ested in mining, it is to their interest to run down 
and destroy any train robbers. These are some of 
the reasons, I have thought, why bullion trains 
traverse these mountains in comparative safety. 
But where bullion is stolen for any length of time 
before its loss is discovered, the chances are many 
to one against its recovery. It will soon be cut up 
and remelted, thus destroying all evidences of its 
identity. Again, the facility with which it can be 
sold and bought, by men knowing it to have been 
stolen, baffles the owner in its pursuit to recapture. 
In these parts, and I say it to their shame, there 
are but few merchants who will not buy the stolen 
property and encourage the thief to double his 
stealings. A low standard of morality, I confess, 
but one they have made for themselves, and to 
which they have conformed from time immemorial. 
Complaints to the officials, by their inactivity and 
indifference, only provoke a spirit of desperation. 
And you settle down at last in the conviction that 
no one mau, nor set of men, can change the habits, 
customs and morality of a people case-hardened in 
the mould of centuries. The undertaking may be 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 81 

praiseworthy and prosecuted in the spirit of a mis- 
sionary, but the effort will be as futile as the at- 
tempt to dart straws through an armor of brass. 

I do not wish it understood from what has been 
written that these mountains are exempt from the 
presence of robbers. Such an inference would be 
at variance with the truth. There are so many 
hiding-places and secure retreats to which they 
may flee and elude capture, it would be strange did 
they not abound in considerable numbers. But 
now they are less numerous than formerly, as law 
is becoming in other sections more firmly estab- 
lished, and order being gradually restored, thus 
lessening the number of malefactors, and conse- 
quently the number of outlawed refugees to the 
mountains from these parts. 

In former years the country was affected with 
periodic revolutions. Some ambitious man, aspir- 
ing to power, would get up a disturbance, issue a 
pronunciamento, gather around him a gang of des- 
peradoes, and endeavor to unseat some rival in posi- 
tion. Sometimes fortune and sometimes misfortune 
attended his expedition, but sooner or later one of 
the contending (actions met with disaster, and those 
not killed in the conflicts were scattered, and fled to 
the mountains as outlaws, henceforth from necessity 
to live by plunder. Happily for the country, the 
era of pronunciamentos seems to have passed, and 
authority is not so easily overthrown as in other 






82 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

times. Those petty chieftains, the leaders of gangs 
from twenty-five to three hundred in number, 
would descend upon some mining camp, take what 
was in sight, cause the employes to join their stand- 
ard, and be off to other fields to conquer. At 
times acting with an utter recklessness as to the 
rights of others, and then again for what was seized 
passing their receipts with a knightly courtesy, pay- 
able, I presume, " after a ratification of a treaty of 
peace." As this referred not to the peace of death, 
which soon followed the one or the other leader, 
but to the peace of the living, those paper tokens 
are still extant in the land with all the vigor of 
" Confederate States Scrip " to be enforced by the 
tribunals of the future. The higher officials acted 
upon the motto, " Once in office, always in office," 
and notwithstanding their terms may have expired 
aud been defeated in their candidacy for re-election, 
yet they did not voluntarily retire, but fortified 
themselves, and, with their sturdy retainers, re- 
sisted the change in the administration. But it 
was immaterial whether they should or should not 
have given place to their rival, a conflict would al- 
most invariably ensue before the incumbent could 
retain his place or be deposed. Of course, resig- 
nations were unknown, and death, except by vio- 
lence, infrequent. 

From this country and from those times may 
have been imported the aphorism that " officials 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 83 

never resign." However this may be, they have 
much official vitality. With them office meant en- 
larged opportunities for making money, and money 
gave them grandeur and " style," without which 
life was but an empty pageant. The governor's 
office was a rich prize, around which these conflicts 
centered. With a prodigality of promises, partisans 
were easily obtained, and the country was kept in 
a state of violent agitation to the detriment of 
every material interest. A change, when it came, 
was too frequently but a change in name, leaving 
abuses unreformed and the public welfare secondary 
to personal aggrandizement. While this is too 
often the case elsewhere, yet such was strikingly so 
in this country in the past. But as time at last 
sets all things even, so these things, too, have been 
changed from bad to better, and now one of these 
improvised revolutions is seldom heard of, as fewer 
men now care to risk their " life's fortunes and 
sacred honors " against the powers that be. The 
fate of the vanquished is left in no uncertainty. 
Such at least was not the case in Mazatlan some 
years since, when the lifeless body of the insurgent 
was exposed in the public plaza for days to the curi- 
ous gaze of friends and foes. Of recent years I 
have heard of but one of these mountain chiefs 
who has eluded capture and death. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

A REVOLUTIONIST. — THEIR MODE OF OPERA 
TIONS. — EFFECT ON CAPITAL. — RAILROADS. — 
FREIGHTS. PRICE OF FLOUR, SUGAR, ETC. 

A Mexican gentleman, the manager of a mine in 
the section where he was operating, told me of 
having been interviewed by one of these rebel 
chiefs at his place of business. He had collected 
about three hundred well armed men, desperate 
like himself, and had organized them into different 
departments of his army. He had his commis- 
sariat and ordnance department each properly offi- 
cered. The most rigid discipline was maintained 
by him throughout his army, a disobedience of 
orders being punishable with death. He had his 
scouts and spies, to note the movements of the 
government forces who were after him, and to re- 
port to him where designated, the marches and the 
countermarches, the number and disposition of the 
opposing troops. He had, too, his sharpshooters, 
the practice o/ whom he was permitted to see, and 
which he describes as having been * remarkably ac- 
curate. The chief sent word to my informant 
84 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 85 

that lie would he at his place on a certain morn- 
ing, and at a certain hour, and told him not to 
leave there. To have left, would have been an 
abandonment of all that he had, and thinking the 
matter over, he resolved to await and abide his 
fate. So, sure enough, at the designated hour, 
there came in sight a herd of cattle, driven by 
men approaching his place of business. The men 
proved to be the herders in the subsistence depart- 
ment, and soon commenced slaughtering for the 
troops, which were but a little distance behind. 
The chief came up* also, in due time, made his 
house his headquarters, placed a guard around his 
premises, took nothing, and remained with him a 
couple of days, in the meantime telling him his 
history, recounting his grievances against the 
government, for a redress of which he was now on 
the warpath, and rehearsing the history of his war 
exploits. He was a young man, probably not 
more than twenty-five years of age, of fine ad- 
dress, moderate education, unflinching courage, in- 
domitable will, and uncjuenchable ambition. He 
possessed fine military cipacity, with the eye of an 
engineer saw at a glance defensible and indefen- 
sible positions, and being as cool as he was brave, 
with his troops moulded to his sovereign will, in 
the dangerous emergencies of action would throw 
them here and there to m°et the varying phases of 
the fight. For several years he has kept up the 



86 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

unequal contest unsubdued, and still survives the 
fortunes of war. These leaders would march into 
a village, place guards in the streets, that none 
might escape, arrest the monied men of the place, 
levy forced contributions upon the citizens, and 
with a rude equity, apportion to each a payment 
corresponding to his supposed financial ability. 
Useless were the demurrers of the " tax-payers," 
for the " tax-gathers " held the execution then in 
their hands, and a levy was made by a swinging to 
the nearest tree, unless the money was forthcoming 
upon demand. Thousands would sometimes be ex- 
acted, to the impoverishment and ruin of the 
robbed, who was dismissed with the consoling as- 
surance that he was fortunate in not having been 
hung. 

In this way the depleted exchequers of the 
gangs were often replenished, the rich made 
poorer, and the poor made richer. For these rea- 
sons many Mexicans, who had accumulated money, 
sent it away to the United States, principally to 
California, to avoid such depredation. Especially 
was this the case in the Slates of Sinaloa and 
Sonora. And many of this class, with their fami- 
lies, followed their treasures, and are now living 
abroad. Capital is always sensitive ; but no capital 
could stand,* for an indefinite time, these lawless 
raids, first by one party and then by the other ; 
but, to protect itself, sought safety in flight. When 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 87 

capital involuntarily expatriates itself, then home 
rule is home ruin. 

As before intimated, the followers of these revo- 
lutionary leaders were inspired by no worthy mo- 
tives, no patriotic principles. They were a set of 
madcap adventurers, going out with the hope that 
in the change sought something might turn up to 
their advantage, as they had nothing to lose, 
either in reputation or estate — a gang of reckless 
daredevils, willing to risk their bodies for the sake 
of adventure and the chances of plunder. The in- 
stances were rare, I apprehend, where these revo- 
tions could be justified; but doubtless there were 
some exceptions, when not to have fought would 
have been dishonor and cowardice. I know al- 
most any government is better than no govern- 
ment, for when anarchy comes, society is free from 
political restraint, its members fall back upon their 
natural rights, and might becomes right. The 
wildest excesses follow where crime and ruin strike 
hands, stalk though the land, kindling fires and 
shedding blood. In some instances the governing 
powers had become so notoriously profligate, cor- 
rupt and oppressive, that revolution, anything, was 
right to bring about change in the existing order 
of things. *T was then some brave spirit came to 
the front, and other brave spirits came with him ; 
the oppressor was overthrown, order restored, and 
right and law again asserted their supremacy. The 






88 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

righteous purpose justified these revolutions. But 
enough has been said to give at least some insight 
into the condition of things which prevailed from 
time to time in portions of this country. These 
local disturbances, however serious and formidable, 
must expend themselves in their own districts, un- 
suppressed by the federal government, the seat of 
which was at a great distance, and with scarcely 
any means of communicating with its remote pro- 
vinces. 

But of late years great progress has been made 
by the Mexican Government in railroad building, 
and in extending telegraphic communications. 
The government has manifested a very liberal 
policy toward railroad companies in grant of sub- 
sidies, extravagant, in view of the impoverished 
condition of its treasury. These have been for- 
eign companies, with foreign capital, which have 
infused new life into the old land. In a few years 
the principal cities of the republic will be con- 
nected by these iron ways. As yet, the neighing of 
the iron steed has never been heard in the Sierra 
Madre. I am aware that intelligence, energy and 
money, can accomplish almost anything, and may, 
hereafter, as they have heretofore, accomplish ap- 
parent impossibilities. The steam engines, har- 
nessed to the rushing train, may yet bring the val- 
leys nearer to the mountains, and the mountains 
nearer to the sea. Distance shrivels, and re- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 89 

mote sections become friendly neighbors, with an 
interchange of thoughts, and feelings and products. 
It is four hundred miles across the mountains. 
Nine times, from this point, have I crossed them, 
going east and west. With their geography, topo- 
graphy and trails, I am now pretty familiar. At 
first view they seem to have been thrown ifp and 
left as an everlasting barrier against the presumptu- 
ous enterprise of man, saying to him and to his 
daring schemes, "thus far shalt thou go, and no 
farther." Their abruptness, more than their ex- 
treme height, will be the obstacle to the engineer 
and roadbuilder. The defiles are such, that it 
would not require three hundred men to make of 
each of them a Thermopylae. Yet such have been 
the triumphs of engineering skill, that a dozen 
years may not elapse before that transcontinental 
trains, laden with people and products, may, with 
their thunders, wake up the echoes of the Sierra 
Madre canyons. Timber and minerals must com- 
prise the outgoing freight. Agriculture could send 
nothing abroad. In fact, breadstuffs are now 
brought in to supply the failure of home produc- 
tion, upon which are paid high tariffs and freights. 
Flour now costs ten cents a pound, and other ar- 
ticles of food, when imported, correspondingly 
high prices. Sugar is worth twenty-five cents, 
grown in this country, and rice same price. Bacon 
is not purchaseable at any figure, but has been 



90 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

known to sell for fifty cents a pound, of course, as 
a special accommodation upon the part of the 
seller, to some hungry friend ! Beef is more 
moderate in price, and more muscular than else- 
where, as the exertion required to climb the moun- 
tains in search of daily subsistence develops the 
muscles, and toughens the beef amazingly. Irish 
potatoes grow to the size of partridge eggs, and 
should be eaten as " spoon victuals." I refer 
to these things to show that the railroads could not 
rely upon the production of this section other than 
that mentioned for outward bound freight, as they 
do not raise enough to supply themselves. And to 
bring these articles in any considerable quantities, 
so as to earn freight, would hardly be profitable, as 
the poverty of the purchasers would preclude them 
from buying large amounts. 



CHAPTER XV. 

MEXICAN RAILROAD. — DIFFICULTY OF MAKING IN 
MOUNTAINS. — A GEORGIA RAILROAD. — TELE- 
GRAPHS. 

If railroads ever come here the Mexicans will 
never build them ; at all events, if I may indulge 
in a reasonable prophecy, for a century or so. They 
started to build a branch road from Jimenez on the 
Mexican Central to the city of Parral, some sixty 
miles distant. It was to be " exclusively a Mexi- 
can enterprise," spent a good deal of money, and 
it has proven " exclusively a Mexican failure. " 
Judging from the serpentine course of the roadbed 
one might infer that the engineer did all his sur- 
veying in the mornings, while still staggering under 
the effects of the night's drunken carousals. Now, 
I do not assert such was the fact, but as it was an 
" exclusively Mexican enterprise," it might have 
been ; and I am always willing to give credit to 
whom credit is due, be he Mexican " or any other 
man." From my observation here, it is as much 
as the average Mexican can do to engineer the aver- 
age mountain burro, and in this he has acquired a 

91 



92 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

proficiency from long acquaintance with that ani- 
mal. But to build and operate a railroad is higher 
than his highest thoughts, and greater than his 
capacities. But foreign capital, directed by other 
people, may penetrate and traverse the mountains 
and go down to the Pacific Coast, and there con- 
nect with the fleets of commerce for distant shores. 
Then over these iron highways the treasures from 
the far-off East may come, and by the interchange 
make glad the mountains and valleys of the West- 
ern Hemisphere. 

Some years ago the government granted a large 
concession to a railroad company to build a road 
from a place called Tobolovampo, on the Gulf of 
California, to some point on the Rio Grande, probably 
Eagle Pass. Some surveys were made and other 
preliminary work was done, but up to this time, 
practically speaking, it remains a paper railroad. 
Its route over the mountains, I think, yet remains 
undetermined. It is claimed that such a road will 
shorten the distance from New York to the East 
Indies seven hundred miles; that its Pacific ter- 
minus has a fine harbor, where fleets and vessels 
of the heaviest tonnage may ride in safety. As to 
the truthfulness of these statements I am not pre- 
pared to say, but modestly suggest their acceptance 
only after corroboration. The railroads here, too, 
have had a hard time of it, though fostered by the 
go vernment. Business depression here, as elsewhere, 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 93 

has been so wide and deep that no class has been 
exempt from its blighting influence. In fact, the 
promised subsidies of the government, upon the 
faith of which many roads were built, could not be 
paid, but were for the time suspended in consequence 
of its financial distress. The government, in the 
readjustment of its own debt with its foreign cred- 
itors, was compelled to modify its railroad grants, 
for a time at least, for its own salvation. I do not 
question its integrity of purpose in doing so, and 
believe the sequel will prove its policy judicious 
and far-seeing. But be this as it may, the roads 
from these or other causes have not, so far, reaped 
the golden grain of their fine anticipations. The 
truth is, their projections were miscalculated some- 
what. They thought magic hamlets, villages and 
cities would spring up along their line as they pen- 
etrated the interior, and that the pulsations of com- 
merce would wake up the sleepers and enliven 
trade and travel along these thoroughfares. It was 
too sudden for the Mexican, and he stood rather 
stupefied than awakened, as cars went rushing by 
him and his burro train. That was some years 
ago. He is now rubbing his eyes, selling his pack 
mules and gradually retiring his nimble-footed 
burros from competition with the national lines of 
transportation. He deplores the day of their ad- 
vent, but yields to the inevitable with a character- 
istic grace. In a few years, if prosperity should 



94 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

generally abound, this republic, too, will have its 
system of railroads penetrating every accessible re- 
gion, and everywhere imparting health, vigor and 
life. One thing can be said of those which have 
been so far built, they are good roads and make good 
time — unlike one in the South during the war, in the 
State of Georgia, on which over the rear platform 
of the car was a large warning placard which read, 
" Passengers are positively forbidden to stand upon 
the platform and pick blackberries while the train 
is in motion." These are well constructed and well 
equipped, and while " in motion " the wayside ber- 
ries will remain unpicked, and such printed cau- 
tions to passengers are only " love's labor lost." 
But ascending these high grades I do not expect 
railroad engines for years to come. I would almost 
as soon expect to see aerial steamers coursing the 
upper deep, laden with drummers and merchandise, 
landing the one and discharging the other at the 
mountain peak way stations. But whatever may 
be the increased facilities for transportation from 
aboard, it is to be hoped that the character of the 
importations will be of a better class than hereto- 
fore. In this respect Mexico has been much im- 
posed upon. Stocks of every description, which 
could not elsewhere be disposed of, have been 
bundled, hurried and dumped into this country, 
until it has become the veritable " waste-basket of 
the nations." Honesty is not only the best policy, 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 95 

but the best principle, and a departure from this 
sound business maxim will react upon its authors. 
I thought it not improper, even in this connection, 
to make the foregoing observation, as it may be of 
benefit to some living without, as well as within, 
this country. 

We have telegraphic communication with all the 
outer world. While the modesty of the lightning 
rod man has prevented his visage from being seen 
in these parts, the telegraph people came nearly 
two years ago, and now we are connected with the 
seaboard and the far east. Between here and the 
coast, more than two hundred miles, there are but 
three offices. From Mazatlan, nearly four hundred 
and fifty miles from this point, there is communi- 
cation by wire with the city of Durengo, and on to 
the city of Mexico, and from thence by land and 
cable to all parts of the world. Should I desire 
to send a message from here to San Francisco, it 
must go by the city of Mexico, for the reason, I 
have heard, that it is to the interest of certain par- 
ties living in the capital that all messages should 
go on certain lines, however circuitous the route 
taken. This may be a slander upon the living; if 
so, no wonder, for even the dead do not escape the 
vile tongue of the traducer. This service has been 
much improved since its establishment. I remem- 
ber a gentleman sent a message to the city of Chi- 
huahua, less than five hundred miles, making in- 



96 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

quiries concerning his mother, who was, at his last 
accounts, in an extremely critical state, and the 
message was received only twelve days after its 
transmission! It would now probably reach there 
in twenty-four hours if the lines were uninter- 
rupted. Dispatches coming from the States were 
scarcely decipherable — looked as if they were in 
the laet stage of confluent smallpox, having been 
translated and re-translated in their passage by 
unscholarly operators, until the identity of the 
original was lost in the a base counterfeit present- 
ment." They were then delivered, a jargon of 
English and Spanish, misspelt at that, no less 
humbling the pride than exciting the wrath of the 
receiver. It mattered not how urgent and impor- 
tant the matter, if he acted at all upon the receipt 
of the message, he did so with many misgivings as 
to the correctness of his interpretation. But now 
the operators have become so proficient that they 
send and receive messages in English, and with the 
exception of some misspelt words, they are cor- 
rectly given. But the tariff of charges is very 
high, which is regulated by the government, being 
the owner of most of the lines. Strange to say a 
dispatch may be sent to the United States, two 
thousand miles, cheaper than a few hundred miles 
in this country. From this point to Parral a mes- 
sage of ten words will cost four dollars or more. 
The same, if sent by the city of Mexico to the 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 97 

United States, will cost probably not more than 
two dollars and fifty cents.* You ask why is this? 
I can 't tell you. It is hidden in the wisdom of 
the official powers. It is, to use a common-place 
expression, " what no feller can find out." The 
telegraph lines are sources of considerable revenue 
to the government, on which a great deal is ex- 
pended in their maintenance, traversing as they do 
long stretches over mountains and plains, through 
sparsely settled districts, necessitating much time 
and expense in repairs of damages from mountain 
streams, falling trees and other causes. Here but 
few people avail themselves of this public conveni- 
ence, but as they become more familiar with its 
workings they will gradually come to adopt it. 
Even now some of them are not yet reconciled to 
the mail system, for when they wish to communi- 
cate with some distant place to which the mail goes, 
instead of sending the letter in that way, they em- 
ploy a private messenger for that purpose. This 
is very common, and if the matter is of great im- 
portance probably the better course to pursue, be- 
cause of the uncertainty of the mails. 

* Now since this was written greatly reduced. 

7 



I 



CHAPTER XYI. 

POSTAL SERVICE. — EXPERIMENT TO IMPROVE IT. 
— POSTMAN'S TROUBLES. — POSTOFFICE OFFI- 
CIALS. — NEWSPAPERS. 



Some words as to the postal system in this sec- 
tion may not be uninteresting. In'other localities, 
doubtless, the service is better, but here it has many 
annoying imperfections. These shortcomings are 
to be ascribed not so much to the local officials as 
to the postoffice department itself. Until within 
the last few years, before the influx of Americans, 
the correspondence was comparatively nothing, and 
the efficiency of the mail service reduced to a mini- 
mum. But increased correspondence necessitated 
increased efficiency, and how to obtain this from 
the department has been a problem of difficult so- 
lution. For the numerous efforts made, and the time 
consumed in them before the least change could be 
effected, it would appear that the department in 
the city of Mexico had forgotten the existence of 
these mountaineers, much more their convenience 
and business interests. Probably a recital of the 
facts may enable my readers to appreciate the more 
98 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 99 

the blessings of their own system, unsurpassed by 
any other. Nominally there was one mail a week, 
but frequently at certain seasons this did not get in 
once a month. This was very detrimental to the 
different mining companies whose correspondence 
was with the United States for machinery and sup- 
plies. Without knowledge of the arrival of 
freights they would remain awaiting shipment for 
weeks at points to which they had been consigned, 
as to which there were letters sent but none re- 
ceived. So grievous had things become that the 
different mining companies resolved to remedy the 
matter, and accordingly employed two postmen to 
take the mail to the city of Parral, after repeated 
efforts to obtain an improvement had been inef- 
fectual. The letters were stamped properly and 
the men paid by the companies for their services, 
so that the government lost nothing. The letters 
were mailed in Parral for distant points and received 
there for the companies. These men made but one or 
two trips when they were seized and imprisoned at 
the instance of government officials, and those set- 
ting on foot the new system threatened with prose- 
cution. These hostile measures killed the effort 
for increased mail facilities for the time. However, 
a petition was then drawn up and forwarded to 
the postmaster-general, reciting with particularity 
the inconveniencies and positive damages to the 
people and to the mining community resulting 



100 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

from a want of an efficient postal service. This was 
not honored with a reply for many months, after 
the lapse of which it was returned with the state- 
ment that the revenue stamps on the same were not 
sufficient in law, and therefore it could not be enter- 
tained. And this from a government to its people 
seeking redress of their grievances ! The paper 
was then " sufficiently stamped " and returned. 
After the lapse of many months, when it gave no 
sign of life, other efforts were made in the same 
direction, and when all seemed unavailing, the 
head of the department suddenly turned over and 
ordered two mails a week instead of but one, but 
by the same route, crossing snow-clad mountains in 
the winter and swollen streams in the summer, the 
same insufferable obstacles which we had sought 
to avoid. In the winter, at times, the mountains 
have three feet of snow, and in the summer, after 
the rainy season has commenced, the latter part of 
June, the streams become torrents, and they are 
impassable for many days. Snowbound in the 
mountains is unwelcome news to those who are 
thirsting for news from business correspondents, 
family and friends. It means all c* mmunication 
shut off from the outside world for an indefinite 
time, and that you may settle down and compose 
yourself with the exclamation of the well-remem- 
bered song, " How tedious and tasteless the hours." 
Footmen carry the mails, and these are often In- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 101 

dians. They can make forty or fifty miles a day, and 
pack from thirty to fifty pounds of mail matter. No 
horse or mule can begin to keep up with them ; in a 
kind of a " dog trot " pace they go for hours and 
hours without intermission. Up one mountain and 
down another, on and on they go, these carriers of the 
government, from early morn until night overtakes 
them, when they sink to rest. When day breaks 
in the east they are ofi° again, and so they go until 
their journey is ended and their charge delivered. 
Their pay is about one dollar per day. Their pro- 
visions they take with them, coarse and scant. Into 
the streams they plunge and cross at all seasons, 
unless dangerously swollen, for over them are 
neither bridge nor boats, not even a foot log spans 
these madly rushing waters, nor is there a light 
canoe to ferry him over while doing this govern- 
ment service. This servant of the government is 
treated like a neglected orphan. And at times 
when he fails from some cause to deliver the mail 
at the designated hour, they reward him with im- 
prisonment, this trusted employe of the State ! 
When he reaches an unfordable stream, he sits on 
the bank until it runs down ; if not too long, ad- 
journs to some neighboring ranch, or returns, leav- 
ing his mail, it is said, in some hollow tree, or un- 
der some rock until he retuns. In this way, and 
for the causes stated, these postmen fail to make 
connections, to the great disappointment of the 



102 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

public — or, at least, the letter-writing and letter- 
sending portion of it. The mail bags have only 
recently been introduced. Before these the carrier 
placed the correspondence in a convenient bundle, 
protected from the rains by a waterproof cloth tied 
up with strings and secured in no other way. They 
were an accommodating set of public servants, too, 
very unlike those in " Uncle Sam's " service. Here 
you might meet one of them in the road, and ask 
him if he had anything for you. Inquiring your 
name, he would stop, examine the package, or 
rather let you do it, as but few of them can read, 
and if you were fortunate enough in finding a let- 
ter, you could take it there and then, giving him a 
receipt for the same, which he delivered at the des- 
ignated office. A little " free and easy," you will 
say ; yes, nothing " stuck up " about him ! He 
carries valuable packages of several pounds weight; 
registered letters, also, but none of them, I think, 
contain money, as nothing but coin circulates here. 
In some of the cities the " general delivery " let- 
ters are thrown down on a table and one may go 
and help himself. A letter may be intercepted by 
the party addressed at any point before it reaches 
its destination. 

I have found the postoffice officials courteous and 
obliging, and from want of familiarity with Amer- 
ican names they often ask the parties to look for 
themselves. In the villages the offices are gener- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 103 

erally kept in some little store, and the letters either 
thrown promiscuously together in a box or stuck in 
between goods on the shelves. Now I know as 
well as you that this doesn't look very well, 
" sorter " careless like, an undignified looseness, 
but we must remember that this is their way, and 
if we do n't like it we have the privilege of retir- 
ing, as they sometimes say. The postage is accord- 
ing to weight ; ordinary letters within the State or 
republic, ten cents; same class for the United 
States, five cents. Mexico belongs to the postal 
union. Some of her leading men advocate the re- 
duction of interior postage to five cents, believing 
that in a short time the increased correspondence 
will make up the loss. Upon the whole the de- 
partment has within the last few years greatly in- 
creased its efficiency. And to the credit of these 
moutain carriers it may be said they seldom lose a 
letter; it may linger for weeks behind, no one 
knows where, but comes in at last soiled and dis- 
figured, " but still in the ring." I have known 
letters returned nearly destroyed by fire. Their 
guardian had doubtless slept at his post. I have 
known them to be on the road for more than twelve 
months, but came smiling in at last, not very fresh, 
but with unbroken contents, all the same. With 
this department promptitude seems an inferior con- 
sideration to ultimate certainty. Expostulations 
are simply a waste of precious breath, and to expect 



104 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

a radical change, as well might you expect to 
change the revolving seasons. 

As I have now spoken of railroads and tele- 
graphs I will make a brief reference to the newspaper, 
that other medium for disseminating intelligence. 
In these mountain wilds there are none published. 
However, a few come here published elsewhere, the 
majority, I think, from the city of Mexico. In 
that city there are some papers of enterprise and 
ability, with their foreign correspodents and daily 
press dispatches from different parts of the world. 
Their columns are unmarked by the rude billings- 
gate that often disgraces the American papers, and 
towards their confreres of the press they almost in- 
variably speak in terms of courtesy. Their edi- 
torials exhibit intelligence, strength and culture. But 
I believe outside of the more important centers 
they are but poorly patronized. Here newspapers 
do not spring up at every crossroad and railroad 
junction, for there is not such a reading public to 
sustain them. Parral, with a population of many 
thousand people, has no newspaper, so the news 
must be gathered by the ear and not by the eye. 
Culiacan, with a population of many thousands, 
has one or two thumbpaper sheets, meagre in size 
and more so in information. The city of Chihua- 
hua, with a population of eighteen thousand, has 
the veriest apology of a newspaper under Mex- 
ican management, but as it happens to be the 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 105 

official orgal of the government, the public patron- 
age gives it a sickly vitality. Mazatlan, with a 
population of fifteen thousand, has also one or two 
newspaper adventures, which, with, a passable en- 
terprise, catch and record the current events. A 
few of the numbers of their journals are seen and 
read up here by a few of these people, for but 
comparatively few have mastered the alphabet, and 
beyond this to " baker " is to them a " terra incog- 
nita." Upon newpaper pabulum they do not feed ; 
their modest thirst for knowledge is quenched by 
other waters ; in fine, so ignorant as almost to believe 
" the visual line which girts them round, the worlds 
extreme." 

In this village are type and office materials for 
a newspaper, but unused, except to strike off invi- 
tations to a ball or funeral by the solitary typo 
resident here, who is "non-union" of necessity, 
and like Sothern's bird, "flocks by hisself." 
So the masses are deprived in the main of their 
great educators, newspapers, and will remain so as 
long as they evince neither taste nor ability to sus- 
tain them. So far as this generation is concerned, 
to hope otherwise is to hope in vain. Upon its in- 
tellectual advancement night has settled. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

NAVIGABLE STREAMS. — NAV Y . — A RMY. — INDIAN 
DEPREDATIONS. 

There are no navigable rivers in the interior of 
the republic, and hence no steamboats with their 
traffic and travel, and explosions. Before the era 
of railroads, wagon and pack trains did the trans- 
portation of the country. Their immense wagons 
would often have hitched to them eighteen and 
twenty "light weight" mules, and would haul 
goods more than a thousand miles. The roads 
were generally good, with gravelly foundation, and 
running through undulating plains, so that immense 
loads could be wagoned. But the railroads came 
and the wagons went, another illustration of the 
" survival of the fittest." While the Mexicans 
have some ocean vessels, and some of them make 
good sailors, yet, like the negroes, they can not prop- 
erly be called a sea-faring people. They like a 
house and laud better than a ship and water. The 
navy of the nation is neither formidable in number 
nor armament. Its vessels, like those of its north- 
ern neighbor, any fourth rate power might almost 
1Q6 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 107 

" rout them, and scout them, nor lose a single man. " 
The difference is this, the United States, with an 
overflowing treasury, has no navy. Mexico, with 
an empty treasury, has none, and for the present cen- 
tury can build none. Both, when the hour of 
peril comes, seem to rely upon their land forces to 
gain their ocean victories. Or it may be that what 
has been misconstrued as supineness upon the part 
of the United States has really been only an antici- 
pation, upon their part, of the millennial era, 
"when the sword shall be turned into the plough- 
share, the spear into the pruning hook, and the 
nations learn war no more." Often a preparedness 
for war is the surest guaranty of peace, and a de- 
fenseless condition an invitation to merciless ag- 
gression. 

Hence, in view of men and nations as they are, 
and not as they should be, there is much wisdom 
in the aphorism, " in the time of peace prepare for 
war." It is a fortunate circumstance that the 
aforesaid navies belong to neighboring republics, 
and nothing but bad taste and the grossest impro- 
priety could induce the one to criticize and make 
mouths at the fleets of the other. Could there be 
an alliance between these nations, some league 
offensive and defensive, then their present navies 
conjoined under some puissant admiral with good 
wind and time, might sweep the seas successfully 
before any pursuing power, " and leave not a wreck 



108 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 



behind." But rightly considered national safety is 
a subject of too much gravity to be treated in a 
vein of irony, and I recommit the question to the 
enlightened statesmanship of the " Sister Repub- 
lics." The fraternity of nations, the universal 
brotherhood of man, is a beautiful ideal, and in the 
providence of the Almighty it will come in the 
distant future, " when the lion and the lamb shall 
lie down together and a little child shall lead 
them," but at present the outlines of that coming 
period are but dimly seen. Selfishness, ambition, 
greed, the conflicts of human passions and human 
interests are yet too strong to be sunk in sweet sub- 
mission to the higher, purer and holier rules oi 
life which must obtain, ere " righteousness covers 
the earth as the waters the face of the great deep." 
I am not pessimistic. I feel thoroughly convinced 
that the world is growing better. History tells me 
so, as I scan the pages befouled with nameless 
crimes, and bespattered with purest blood from 
earliest periods when men commenced to make it. 
Aliens once were enemies, but just as the barriers 
of non-intercourse were broken down and inter- 
coramuncation began, acquaintance ripened into 
friendship, and friendship grew into associatec 
unions, thus widening and deepening the channel! 
of human fraternity. With nations as with indi- 
viduals, when they come to know each other better, 
partialities may be strengthened, prejudices dissi- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. i*09 

pated, enmities forgotten. Steamships and steam 
cars, rapid transit in a word, is a most potent civil- 
izing influence bringing about a swift interchange of 
thoughts, feelings and commodities, and thus, in no 
other way, introducing the nations of the earth to 
each other. But while man is better than he was, and 
nations are gradually growing from 'year to year 
into a higher intellectual and moral development, 
yet at present the thought is premature that gov- 
ernments may rely upon the integrity and good 
dispositions of other governments, and not upon 
themselves as a guarantee of their rights, and a re- 
dress for their wrongs. Such being the case, prac- 
tical, rather than sentimental, statesmanship says, 
seek peace at all events; if need be, through ample 
preparations for war. Wishing things were other- 
wise will not make them so, and to meet them as 
we find them is the part and duty of enlightened 
legislators. 

Closely allied to the navy is the army of the 
country, and as I have spoken of the former I will 
now make a few remarks as to the latter. It con- 
sists of about forty thousand men. In such a body 
there must be some good officers and good men, but 
as an army organization it will not favorably com- 
pare with that of any first-class power in any re- 
spect. It is said that often amnesties are granted 
to the most highhanded lawbreakers, criminals of 
every description, if they will join the army. The 



HO THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

morals of an army, formed in a great measure from 
such recruits, are necessarily bad. Such a leaven so 
widely diffused spoils the whole camp. Association 
is contaminating, and the regular soldiers too often 
come to be regarded as fit associates for their un- 
worthy companions. A soldier ought to be a 
gentleman, an officer never should be otherwise, 
but the practice resorted to here to fill up the ranks 
lowers the tone of the army, and weakens its better 
influence. These soldiers I have seen at different 
times and places leave upon me, generally, the same 
impression. They do not heed the maxim of Na- 
poleon, that great master of the art of war : first 
feed, then clothe, then arm your soldiers. A hun- 
gry man won't fight unless it is for something to 
eat, nor will a naked man unless it is for something 
to wear. He has no spirit, no pride, no courage. 
The appeals of patriotism are poor arguments to 
him while hunger gnaws and cold shivers his ema- 
ciated frame. To arm him before he is fed and 
clothed is to reverse the natural order of things. 
Put something in his mouth, something on his 
back, then arms in his hands, and he becomes at 
once a nation's defender. From what I have seen 
and heard, these soldiers are neither well fed, well 
clothed nor well paid. He receives only a few 
cents a day for his services. His endurance is re- 
markable, making long and rapid marches in short 
periods of time, his baggage and subsistence being 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. HI 

light. The well-fed American soldier would have 
as much contempt for his rations as the English 
officer had for the sweet potatoes of Gen. Francis 
Marion. A few corn cakes and a few beans make 
up his perpetual bill of fare. Now an ordinary- 
man could stand this menu for forty or fifty times, 
but to make a regular thing of it, it becomes mo- 
notonous, and the stomach cries out, paraphrasing 
the words of Richard, "A change, a change, my 
kingdom for a change \" The bean is his meat, 
and its nutritive property must be great to sustain 
him as it does in the bivouac and march. But to see 
men dressed in linen and sandals while the snow is 
on the ground and the waters are frozen, does not 
magnify the importance of these " heroes in the 
strife." I know some who regard soldiers as mere 
pieces on the chess board, to be pushed here and 
there, as judgment or caprice may dictate, mere 
machines to do the bidding of superior wills. But 
there is such a thing as a soldierly spirit, without 
which he is a mere figure, but with it he is a con- 
trolling power. The majority of the rank and file 
here lack this element, indispensable no less to sol- 
dierly bearing than to leadership. The conditions 
calculated to inspire this martial spirit may be 
wanting, as he sees nothing hopeful beyond his 
term of enlistment. It is said they fight well. 
Judging from the texture of their uniform, linen — 
pardon the pleasantry — they ought to keep cool in 



112 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

battle, and coolness truly is a prerequisite to effi- 
cient soldiership. For many years they have been 
much occupied with the Indians. These ^have 
given this govenment a great deal of trouble, de- 
stroyed many lives and much proporty. To prevent 
their incursions from the United States along the 
border, and to overtake and punish those who 
make them, necessitate a considerable force along 
the frontier and an expenditure of much money. 
These Indians came from the United States reser- 
vations for the most part, from which points they 
would sally, after having been fed and pampered 
for a good while, and make their way into Mexico, 
leaving blood and smouldering ruin in their course. 
Once in these mountains it was with the utmost 
difficulty they could be found, or when found, dis- 
lodged. When their thirst for blood had become 
somewhat assuaged, and if pressed by pursuing troops, 
then they were magnanimously permitted to sur- 
render to the United States forces, which, obeying 
orders from the Interior Department, punished 
them most condignly by placing them again on the 
deserted reservations ! And then they were warned 
if they ever again abused the hospitality of the 
United States, by breaking away from bread, bed 
and board, and playing such unkind pranks upon 
our Mexican neighbors, they would be caught again 
and placed once more upon the aforesaid hated 
reservations ! In fact they would keep on putting 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 113 

them there so long as the government furnished 
red blankets and rations and a frontier Mexican 
survived their practical jokes. Such has been the 
policy of our government lor years, until within a 
short period, greatly to the detriment of this coun- 
try, its people, and treasure. The unvarnished fact 
is, that the United States should maintain its reser- 
vation so near the border when its horde of savages 
would at will break loose, steal and slay in a neigh- 
boring friendly nation, and thus keep up along the 
line perpetual apprehensions, if not a state of terror, 
were nothing more nor less than an inexcusable 
outrage. 






CHAPTER XVIII. 

MEXICAN SOLDIERS.— APACHES. — INDIAN POLICY. 
— YAQUIS. — MA JOS. — HOME ATTACHMENT. 

The Mexican government has a right to ask in- 
demnity and security against the border reservation 
system of the United States. Shall no one be an- 
swerable for the acts of blood and violence of these 
petted wards of the nation, these blood-soaked vil- 
lians who riot in the very wantonness of cruelty, 
and who feast their souls upon the expiring agonies 
of their victims? Innocent, helpless women and 
children perished piecemeal under their terrible 
tortures, and the murderer's reward is the settler's 
home on the Reservation ! No wonder the Mexican 
soldier, in fighting such fiends, gave and asked no 
quarter. He raised the flag of extermination and 
taught the savages that war meant to fight, and to 
fight meant to kill. Rewards, too, were offered for 
the heads of Apaches, and these doubtless stimu- 
lated the vigilance and courage of the Mexican 
troops, who often made the conflicts " short, sharp and 
decisive. " In these engagements the Mexican soldier 
sufficiently illustrated his endurance and prowess. 
114 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. H& 

The picture of an Apache once seen, will long hang 
upon the walls of memory, the dust and cobwebs 
of years will never efface the impression. In the 
city of Chihuahua, some years since, I saw quite a 
number of Apache women and children in the pub- 
lic prison, recently captured by the State forces. 
I noted a conspicuous absence of the Apache braves 
among the prisoners, but remembering the " In- 
dian policy" of the country, there was a solution 
of the enigma. The brave had crossed " over the 
river," and gone to other hunting grounds, where 
no bow and arrows hang in the armory, moccasins 
never tread and ponies never feed. But the mis- 
taken policy of the United States in locating these 
Indians upon the frontier reservation was cruelty 
to its own citizens, hundreds of whom upon an out- 
break fell victims to their atrocities. But forgive- 
ness, shelter, safety, and provisions followed pursuits 
and capture, and thus it went on through a series 
of years, the Indians murdering and flourishing, 
white people on both sides of the border victims of 
the bloodiest tragedips, dying the crudest deaths. 

Coming down to the bottom facts, to speak 
plainly, out of such Indians you can't make gen- 
tlemen. Sooner will the Ethiopian change his 
skin, and the leopard his spots than gentle blood 
flow through such veins. Such bad blood can 
only be washed out after the lapse of generations 
by the continual infusion of new life currents. 



116 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 



Text-books, tracts, and sermons won 't do it, when 
he has murder in his heart, the torch, knife and 
rifle in his hand. As well might we believe the 
wildest fictions of mythology as such an improba- 
bility. This is my conviction, but a sickly senti- 
mentalist may reach other conclusions as to these 
border murderers, and in prose and rhyme rehearse 
the Iliad of their woes. In the lives of peoples 
and tribes, as well as individuals, after a long ex- 
istence of horrible enormities, when the cup of 
their iniquity is full, it is the exemplification of 
righteousness that the sword of justice should 
descend in the hands of an angel of doom, and 
suddenly number them among the nations of the 
past. Reread the history of Canaanitish tribes. 
Such a fate well befits the monsters of whom we 
now speak, who have trampled under foot all law, 
human and divine. So when the facts are fully 
known, I am not prepared to disapprove the Indian 
policy of this country as carried into practice and 
enforced through the instrumentality of the army. 
Men are not susceptible to moral precepts with 
arms in their hands. Rebels make bad disciples. 
First arrest the ear by the voice of authority, then 
the arm by the might of power, and after this it 
may be the heart, by the inculcation of moral doc- 
trines. Exact obedience to the civil power, by 
peaceably or forcibly inspiring respect for it, or in 
a word, law, government, order, first, and then re- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 117 

ligioti. In my humble judgment, to reverse this 
order, to make savages into citizens, is a mere 
chimera of the brain, an Utopian dream. The 
Apache could no more be made a law-abiding sub- 
ject of the government than you could convert a 
hyena into a lamb. When he does, then the wild 
cat will become a symbol of innocence, but not till 
then. 

But to pass on to the neighboring State of So- 
nora. The Mexicans here had much trouble and 
hard fighting of late years with two powerful tribes 
called the Yaquis and Majos. They number many 
thousands, and one of their chiefs is a man of edu- 
cation and great force of character. They occupy 
a large fertile tract of country, lying a portion of 
it on the Majo River, and were engaged in peaceful 
pursuits — agriculture and cattle raising. They are 
said to be industrious, fine workers, and when un- 
molested, inoffensive citizens. But when their 
peace is disturbed, or their rights threatened, then 
the animal is unchained. The land occupied by 
them, they have claimed and lived upon a great 
number of years. Between them and the general 
government a dispute arose as to this land, and 
I learn an effort was made to dispossess them, 
which was resisted. This led to some negotiations, 
but they failed of their purpose, and then by re- 
sort to arms, it was sought to compel what nego- 
tiation had failed to accomplish. For years colli- 






118 THE MO VNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

sions occurred between the contending forces 
generally, resulting in the discomfiture of the 
government troops. Upon the extensive tracts oi 
lands held hy these Indians are said to be some 
fine mines, but they will neither permit Mexicans 
nor Americans to invade and settle upon their terri- 
tory. They fear the permission of such a privilege 
may prove a Trojan horse. You may pass through 
their country journeying from one place to another, 
and you will be unmolested, but with them short 
stops make long friends. If they do not adopt the 
former phrase, they do the latter of the Scotch 
maxim, which runs, u Welcome the coming, and 
speed the parting guest." This they will do with 
an unmistakable emphasis should you linger, for in 
no section are dela)s so dangerous. I was told of 
some mining men who went over their line and 
commenced working some mining property, and 
thought they had struck a good thing, but the chief 
sent a delegation to invite them to his quarters, and 
the invitation was so urgent that they repaired 
thither immediately. The interview was brief, his 
command of language was superb, for he in- 
dulged in no Delphic oracle utterance ; he told 
them to go, and not to stand upon the order of their 
going, but to go at once. Too courteous to disre- 
gard such a well meant injunction, under a special 
escort furnished for the occasion, they left instanter 
for other prospecting fields, well pleased with the 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 119 

country, but ill pleased with its people, and shak- 
ing the dust from their feet as a testimony forever 
against that nation. 

The experience of that party is that of many 
others. I am not sure that the land question has 
yet been settled between them and the Mexican 
Government. For his land he will fight to the 
last. For this has for him an attraction which 
nothing else possesses. He knows nothing of the 
divisions of property spoken of in learned law 
treatises as being real, personal and mixed. Like 
one of old, " he careth for none of these things." 
But he does care for his land, his flocks, his hunt- 
ing grounds, the graves of his wives and children. 
There are strong local attachments which nothing 
can break save a superior physical power, and this 
he will resist to the last extremity. But when was 
it an Indian of any tribe would, without a strug- 
gle, give up his land ? He knows this, and for it 
will make his stand, and in it Avill make his grave. 
And at this we need not wonder when we reflect 
that dirt, land, in a word, and women have caused 
more strife than any other two things in the world. 
I am not blaming her. She can not help it. Too 
often she leads when she was made to follow. She 
reigns where she was made a subject. She bears 
not the olive branch of peace, but the apple of 
discord. All the Helens in all the Troys are not 
yet dead. I do not mean to be ungallant, much 



120 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

less untruthful, when I repeat that dirt and women, 
probably more than other things, have engendered 
strifes and maddened men. But territorial exten- 
sions have ever been a fruitful source of misunder- 
standings and conflicts among men and nations. 
What is taken by one party must be taken from 
the other. New acquisitions for the service of 
more extended dominion, a wider sovereignty to 
fill up ambitious desire. Territorial slices for 
war indemnities. But I tread tenderly here while 
a guest in the home of my friends, as I do not wish 
to awaken any historic memories. But so universal 
is this desire for land, for more land, and this desire 
to keep it, and to keep it at all hazards, that it 
seems an instinct of our nature, and that our affec- 
tions become rooted to the soil, as are the shrubs 
and vines and forest, resisting the elemental strife. 
That the Indian has this feeling, too, of which we 
have spoken, need not surprise us. It appears a 
sentiment deeply imbedded in the constitution of 
our nature. To desire land acquisition is natural, 
to have it not so much in common, but separately 
for one's self, is the idea entertained, the desire 
sought to be gratified. Feeling thus the Indian 
naturally resists all efforts at expulsion and at its 
mention, on comes the war paint and the war 
dance, and off he goes on the war path. This land 
grabbing, land stealing, and land annexation busi- 
ness are the sources of unnumbered strifes, colli- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 121 

sions, and wars. The Indian problem here, as in 
the United States, is not free from difficulty. State 
craft has found its solution beset with so many ex- 
asperating embarrassments that some high in civil 
and military authority have declared that the best 
Indians are the dead Indians. The humanitarian 
would object to such a sweep in classification, and 
have exempted from such a fate those who will 
cease to be savages and learn to be civilized men. 
And I agree with him, while some of these can, 
some can not, I believe, be reclaimed from their 
barbarism and nomadic modes of life. Some of the 
most distinguished Mexicans of whom history speaks 
have been native Indians. President Juarez is said 
to have been a full-blooded Indian, who inaugur- 
ated reforms which will leave their impress upon 
the country for all time. He died poor, which 
speaks volumes for his integrity, as contrasted with 
that of others who have filled the same exalted 
positions. 



. CHAPTER XIX. 

REGULATORS. — THEIR PROCEDURE. — AN INCIDENT. 

The public order of a country excites the in- 
quiry of every thoughtful man. We have seen in 
times past, in some sections, how men would rise 
up and overthrow the established order of things. 
How some warred against the existing authorities 
and managed to maintain a regular army organiza- 
tion for an indefinite time against the supreme au- 
thority of the State, a kind of "imperium in im- 
perio," with an autonomy of its own. These 
anomalies indicated the weakness of the govern- 
ment. Happily now the public tranquility is less 
frequently disturbed by this species of disorder. 
The State has more strength and its forces can be 
made effective the sooner to quell any insurrection- 
ary movements. Generally speaking, outside of 
the mountain districts, throughout the country, a 
higher respect has been cultivated and is observed 
for law and order. And in some of these moun- 
tain cantons, when things become desperately bad, 
some bold men come to the front, and feeling that 
self-preservation is the first law of nature become a 
122 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 123 

law unto themselves, and in the shortest possible 
time execute the greatest possible number of male- 
factors. Here leniency to the guilty would be 
further cruelty to the innocent. And in justice to 
these regulators, if I may so call them, their mo- 
tives are good, and while their excutions are not in 
due course of law, they are in due course of justice. 
A righftul conviction rightfully reached is the cry 
of the criminal's eloquent advocate ere he expiates 
his crime. But here these self-constituted judges 
rightfully convict, but may wrongfully proceed, 
reaching a rightful end, but by an irregular route. 
Crime is punished, order restored, substantial jus- 
tice attained, and while one of the ends of punish- 
ment can not be secured, the reform of the offender, 
for he passes beyond its power, the other may be 
obtained, deterring others from the perpetration of 
similar offenses. In such organized communities, 
such swift administration of law, or of j ustice, if 
you please, is often the most wholesome practice, 
and the surest safeguard for the public peace. 
Often in such places the officials are the veriest 
weaklings with neither knowledge of law nor 
strength of will, and are soon despised and over- 
ridden by the evil-doers of the land. 'Tis then, 
in order to protect their life and property, these 
leaders arise, and having courts of their own, ad- 
minister a law without the law's delays, and mete 
out to the culprit a swift and certain punishment 



124 i THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

commensurate with his misdeeds. As much as we 
may deprecate such a procedure in a bettter regu- 
lated society, yet here justice administered without 
law is better than when neither law nor justice is 
administered. In some cases the innocent may be 
punished, most rarely, however, but. the guilty sel- 
dom escape. The accused and his witnesses are 
heard, the testimony concluded, the decision ren- 
dered, the sentence pronounced, and the execution 
follows. There are no misdirections of courts and 
misbehavior of juries to vitiate the verdicts; no 
continuances, no new trials or motions in arrest of 
judgments granted. No penitentiaries and work- 
houses to receive him, and no governor to pardon. 
He is absolutely naked, defenseless and hopeless in 
the presence of the grave to which he is speedily 
consigned. A swift retribution has followed him 
for his crimes, and will await others of like kind at 
the hands of these forest tribunals. I believe it is 
seldom they commit an error, for it is only upon 
the fullest investigation they inflict the severest 
punishment. When these men go after a miscreant 
his sudden flight and no return is his best security, 
for if caught, trial, conviction and death follow in 
rapid succession. 

Such are some of the features of these irresponsi- 
ble tribunals, but there are others acting within the 
purview of law which have ways ot their own in 
administering it. The judge, attended by an escort, 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 125 

goes from point to point to where the accused may 
be imprisoned. He looks into their cases, some of 
whom he will discharge, and others he will direct 
to be placed in the charge of certain men, with in- 
structions to take them to a given point. The given 
point they never reach in this life, but somewhere 
or somehow they are lost on the way, and such in 
spirit at least is the compliance with the judicial 
instructions. You may call it a rude way of doing 
such things, but these people look more to the sat- 
isfactory results than questions of taste and senti- 
ment in such matters. Some time since an officer 
with a guard was moving some prisoners to this 
place, when he says they attempted to escape on the 
way. He shot them down at once, but failing to 
kill one of them instantaneously, only wounding 
him severely, he shot him again, as he said, to re- 
lieve him from his sufferings ! His humanity was 
so painfully sensitive, that only in killing the suf- 
ferer his tender-heartedness could find repose. 
After relieving himself from the care of his pris- 
oners on the road in the manner stated he came on 
and in a business manner reported his " acts and 
doings in the premises " to the proper authorities. 
As he asked for an investigation of the matter this 
was willingly accorded him. And taking some 
parties out where he started his new burying 
ground, they found the bodies where he had told 
them, and they promptly concluded that an official 



126 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

capable of so much truth must be incapable of any 
wrong. Their report not only relieved him from 
all imputation of blame, but complimented him for 
his meritorious conduct and superior marksman- 
ship. When officials, as here, receive but little 
compensation for their services, that is, legitimate 
compensation, surely honor should not be withheld, 
honor to an active public servant, to whom honor is 
due. The caged criminals tremble upon the approach 
of these circuit judges, for they feel that time is brief 
before the disposition of their cases. It is the cer- 
tainty and celerity of punishment, which strike 
terror to offenders more than its severity. But the 
manner of administering the law, here more than 
elsewhere, seems to depend more upon the official 
iucumbent than the letter of the law itself. Hence 
in some cantons it is applied with unnecessary 
severity, in others it is a dead letter, and has no 
enforcement. I have heard it stated that some 
years ago one of the mountain Jeffreys had a miner 
shot for having stolen a candle ! It is further 
stated that for a long time after this candles " went j 
a begging," to be stolen, but no one wished to 
humor them by taking their lights. Positive law 
with fixed limitations, and not caprice or arbitrary 
power should determine the measure of punish- 
ment. Judges are but men, and men too often 
weak, corrupt, or tyrants. 

There is no doubt, however, but that some of 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 127 

these circuit judges perform most valuable services 
in their sentences of extermination. No one un- 
familiar with the matter has any adequate concep- 
tion of the condition of things, which absolutely 
necesitates the enforcement of such vigorous meas- 
ures. Lawlessness in the ascendant means terror 
and anarchy below. And here in many places these 
bad elements would get and keep the mastery un- 
less speedily crushed by the arm of authority. 
Desperate diseases require desperate remedies, and 
desperate men the swift infliction of the severest 
penalties. Society must protect itself in one way 
or another, if not for some good reason according 
to the forms of law, then outside of those forms it 
must vindicate its right to live by the death of its 
assailants. I am aware of the ground upon which 
I am treading and that the views expressed may 
savor of the mobocratic. These remarks are now 
designed to apply to some of the localities where 
the better elements of society are compelled to do 
something in self-protection, for the law itself has 
no more strength than a rope of sand. It is the 
assertion and maintenance of natural rights against 
this invasion by gangs, organized and unorganized, 
of [cut-throats and robbers. When the law lives 
and the courts are open no one would be farther 
than myself from countenancing such irregular 
proceedings. A change of condition and circum- 
stances necessitates a different treatment, and look- 



128 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

ing to the temperament of the patient and the his- 
tory of his infirmity, as wise advisers, we must, at the 
proper time and place, apply the particular remedy 
best adapted to heal the ailment. And this is all 
there is of it when we go to the foundation of the 
matter. Mexico is not in the United States, nor 
are these mountains the better portion of Mexico. 
Law, to be effective, must accommodate itself to the 
genius of the people, backedby a popular sentiment. 
But when there is no popular voice to sustain it, as in 
many parts of these mountains, then it is only re- 
membered to be despised. And could you see 
some of these judicial officials, muffled to the eyes, 
with a blanket thrown around them for the judicial 
ermine, I am sure ever aftewards you would have 
greater respect for the opinion of Mr. Justice Dog- 
berry. They hold their office by appointment, and 
as kissing goes by favor, upon no other reasonable 
hypothesis can we account for the fact that such 
creatures fill such places. Young ladies who have 
rejected many good offers are sometimes warned by 
interested parties that one may go through a forest 
and then pick up a crooked stick, so it would ap- 
pear here, that the sorriest judicial timber in the 
whole forest has been taken, out of which to make 
judges. They can nut rightfully assert as the pomp- 
ous Texan justice claimed, as to his baldness, that 
it came from " a vast knowledge of the law." 



CHAPTER XX. 

MEXICAN JUDGES. — POLICO — CARRYING PISTOLS. 
— KNIVES. 

Sir Isaac Newton replied to one who was con- 
gratulating him upon his wonderful attainments, 
that he had only picked up a few pebbles of truth 
upon the shore of the great ocean of knowledge. 
The Mexican judges have never yet taken a pebble, 
nor heard of such an ocean of information. They 
can scarcely read and write. I do not know the 
fact, but think it not unlikely some of them can do 
neither. Upon the principle that what has been 
done can be done again, I see no reason why their 
opinions, if well edited, ought not to sell, for many 
of them have been sold once". Without reference to 
age or qualification, these men are selected to fill 
the position of honor and trust. I now call to 
mind one who for years was a hanger-on at the jail ; 
now he dischages the judicial functions in a manner 
satisfactory to the public. And the public like 
him too, for, as quasi-judex, he entertains some of 
its best citizens in a manner long to be remembered. 
If by some international arrangement the burlesque 

9 129 



130 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO, 

"Arkansaw Justice " and the Sierra Madre Judge 
could for a season interchange ridings, just to clear 
up old cases on the docket " you know," it might 
be advantageous by the diffusion of more light in 
the- nebulous regions of the two republics. Igno- 
rance may be excused in such places, but corrup- 
tion never. It is notorious that their wares are as 
marketable as sheep in the shambles. The heaviest 
purse gets the heaviest verdict. Justice is repre- 
sented as blind, but here take the bandage off her 
eyes and the condition is unchanged. She is yet 
blind to justice. Tliey incline the scale when you 
put something in the scale to incline it. They 
must see where " Jeems comes in." " Jeems " was 
the given name of a celebrated Tennessee legisla- 
tor, and was approached on divers occasions, op- 
portune and inopportune, by a clergyman who was 
much interested in getting some reform legislation, 
and relied upon ' ' Jeems " to put it through who 
had approved it heartily. But when " Jeems " 
moved slowly in the matter, the cleryman asked 
him why it was. He said he approved the meas- 
ure, thought it would be a great blessing to the 
country, and yet had not taken a step toward its 
passage. "Jeems," feeling himself somewhat cor- 
nered, replied in the slang of legislative parlance, 

" Brother , I repeat all I have said as to the 

merits of the bill ; it has my unqualified indorse- 
ment, but you have not yet told me or showed me 






THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 131 

where Jeems comes in." And so it is with some of 
the judges, they can see nothing until they see some- 
thing first. I presume a more corrupt set of 
" Jeemses " do not anywhere exist. Were they more 
so their very meanness would extinguish vitality. 
The executive and legislative departments may be 
corrupt, yet if the judiciary stands in its incorrupt- 
ible integrity, it may preserve the rights and lib- 
erties of the people. A judiciary " unawed by 
power, and unbribed by gain," is the best bulwark 
of constitutional liberty. It allays the popular 
clamor, arrests the wild frenzy of the hour, and 
fixes impregnably upon their pedestals that imper- 
ishable trinity, right, truth and justice. It is a 
source of much satisfaction to know that the suits 
of all, rich and poor, will receive at least, and 
at last an honest determination by an impartial 
tribunal. Even suspicions to the contrary weaken 
the administration of law, for probably more than 
all others the judge should be like Csesar would 
have had his wife above suspicion. But super- 
added to ignorance and corruption we find them 
often supercilious, overbearing and browbeating 
in their demeanor. For ignorance we can exercise 
charity, for corruption loathing, and for haughti- 
ness, deep if unexpressed contempt. 

In my meditative moods I have thought that 
there was a" long distance between one of these 
officials and a life statue of Lord Mansfield. Mar- 



132 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

shall, Kent and Story, of whom they never heard, 
were the merest tyros in legal erudition to these 
men, in their own estimation. How true it is that 
generally all over the world modesty and merit go 
hand in hand, that humility and worth are firmest 
friends. I do not mean to say that greatness is in- 
variably dissociated from vanity, for the reverse is 
sometimes true, but then it is greatness in spite of 
vanity, and beyond it. Instances of this kind I now 
remember, and can but think that the character 
would shine the more and be the more lovely were 
these blemishes wanting. From such courts you 
know not what conclusions will be reached, for no 
one can reasonably anticipate a decision even in 
the plainest case, when that decision may be reached 
without a reason. A benefit conferred, a favor ex- 
pected, a few pennies in the pocket are worth more 
than pounds of arguments. The former he sees 
and accepts, the latter he neither sees, nor hears, 
nor feels. As before intimated, the dispensation of 
laws depends here almost entirely upon the char- 
acter of the official, calling to mind the saying of 
some Euglish judge in reference to equity, that it 
might depend upon the measure of the foot of the 
chancellor ! What I mean is that the same offenses 
in different localities receive different punishment, 
or no punishment at all. For instance, 1 am told 
that near the southwestern part of the State there 
is a district where the penalty for stealing property 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 133 

worth fifty dollars is death, and less than that sum 
fifty lashes under an uplifted shirt. Both remedies 
have their advocates, and both are said to be re- 
markably efficacious in the suppression of theft, so 
much so that valuable things may be left " lying 
around loose " anywhere, and they will remain un- 
disturbed while this common law of the country 
remains in force. But in other sections the same 
offenses would scarcely be noted as worthy of in- 
vestigation, or only a few days' imprisonment at 
most. There is a want of symmetry in the system, 
of uniformity in its application. In some of the 
cities the police department is well conducted. 
Take, for instance, the cities of Chihuahua, Paral, 
Culiacan, Mazatlan. In them the police force are 
well organized and disciplined, and are efficient 
bodies of men. In fact, you will find the police 
force as well kept there as almost anywhere. They 
have a singular custom, for policemen go around 
at night with lanterns in their hands to find the 
person sought. At this an American policeman 
may smile, and it does seem very ridiculous. But 
while in the cities crime is very well suppressed, 
in the mountains the reverse in the main is 
lamentably true. The weakness comes from the 
imbecility and worthlessness of the officials charged 
with this duty. They seem to be either indiffer- 
ent about the matter, or terrorized by the worse 
portion of the community. For the most part 



134 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 



worthless themselves, they can not lift themselves 
out of, and above themselves. I am told, for in- 
stance, that there is a law against the practice of 
carrying weapons, and yet the practice is universal. 
An American witness who had been robbed in- 
formed me when he went into the prison with the 
judge to identify the robber they both went in 
armed for that purpose, and this at the instance of 
the judge. I have seen boys not ten years old with 
butcher knives in their sheaths upon their persons, 
ten inches long. Training them up, you see, in 
the way they should go, so that when they get old 
they will not depart from it. Pistols, you may be 
sure, are worn by everybody — pistols little and big, 
of every style and description and pattern. I am 
not aware, however, they change them to suit the 
probable requirements of the occasion, as has been 
reported to have been done by a Tennessee bad boy, 
in which State the law is very severe against carry- 
ing weapons. His brother was the witness, and 
when asked if he knew any one guilty of that bad 
practice answered like a little man, " Yes, sir, 
Brother Bill has two pistols." And when pressed 
for an explanation of the necessity of having two, 
he said the larger one he wore when he went to 
muster — elections, barbecues, and " sich like " — the 
smaller one he took with him when he went to 
preaching and prayer-meetings ! These fellows 
never see the fitness of things, and to suit the occa- 






THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 136 

sion vary the size of their ordnance. But where 
the practice is so general, there must be a harvest 
of violence. The habitual wearing of weapons, 
familiarity with their use, somehow seems to create 
a desire to use them upon the most inadequate 
provocation, and in spasms of passion. Hence the 
wisdom of the law against such an evil practice, to 
protect its members against both hasty and deliber- 
ate acts of violence. The cold-blooded villain uses 
them for the purpose of intimidation and business, 
that is to say his kind of business, which is to steal, 
rob, and if need be, murder. The hot-headed 
young man, upon some bare suspicion, some misre- 
port or fancied grievance, employs them to wash 
his honor clean in the blood of another, and then 
throw himself upon a jury of the country, which, 
after having been well fed and filled during the 
progress of the trial, charitably sees an uncontrol- 
lable impulse or momentary insanity in the act, and 
in their verdict tenderly bid him depart, amid 
the " God bless you's " and " close call, old fellow," 
of sympathizing friends, free from dungeon and 
death, free once more as the unimprisoned bird ! 
But here, practically speaking, carrying weapons is 
only a theoretical violation of law, a mere obstruc- 
tion of which the court takes no cognizance, enter- 
tains no jurisdiction. It is a matter judicially con- 
sidered here as of the most trifling importance, yet 
fraught with the most baneful consequences to the 



138 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

good order and well-being of society. I venture 
the assertion that no place can be found where hu- 
man life is cheaper than when surrounded by a 
gang of drinking and drunken Mexicans, and each 
one armed either with a pistol or knife. The peace 
officers, in the presence of such a mob, are as 
powerless as the arms of a puling infant. They 
take the town and " paint it red," those not using the 
brush carry the paint buckets. The authorities for 
the time retire into their shells, and only emerge 
when the danger is passed. 

If, in a word, public order exists, it is by the 
sufferance of the rabble, and not in the effective 
excution of the law. One never having seen such 
a condition of things must of them have an inad- 
equate conception. Here authority without power 
is a mere mockery. Here it seems to be a disinte- 
gration of things, a general loosening of important 
parts, a lack of cohesive power to keep in proper 
play the machinery of society. 



CHAPTER XXL 



a 



PUBLIC OEDEE. TEXAN MUEDEEED. — "ACCOEDA- 

DOS. " MOUNTAIN LAWYER. MODESTY AND 

ATTAINMENTS. 

I begin this with an example of Mexican justice. 
In a village containing only a few hundred inhabit- 
ants, within the last three years, I believe more than 
twenty men have been killed outright, and many 
more than this number wounded in personal alterca- 
tions, and yet not one of the offenders has been exe- 
cuted, and no punishment inflicted beyond a mere 
temporary imprisonment. Many fled for the time, but 
some of them return?d to the scenes of their butch- 
eries after a while, and in a brief period it was 
made all right with them, and now the black- 
hearted murderer is the welcomed fellow-citizen ! 
Officials now clasp him warmly by the hand, and 
he, in the magnanimity of his spirit, forgives them 
for the temporary interference with his personal 
liberty. And they are so glad to be forgiven 
by such an honorable man, after having explained 
away the harshness of their treatment, the recon- 
ciliation is as sweet as that which comes to 

137 



138 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

lovers after the war of words. There are numbers 
living in that place who have not only "killed their 
man," but two or three of them. Why, murderers 
play the part of soldiers, and guard in the streets to 
to the jail those unfortunates who have fallen under 
the influence of too much drink. Think of it, a 
murderer taking a drunken man to prison ! The 
clerk of the court, or who has acted in that capac- 
ity, has been convicted and sentenced to a long 
imprisonment for several murders, and yet the sen- 
tence is unexecuted. The most cold-blooded as- 
sassin walk the streets with impunity, fearing no 
harm from any official quarter. If they have any 
apprehensions of evil to themselves it is from the 
kindred of those whom they have murdered, and 
not from the ministers of the law. To one unac- 
customed to such a state of society it would be 
alarming, but daily familiarity with such scenes 
makes it less horrifying. Many of these criminals 
are never even arrested. They go out by " easy 
stages" from the village, and the pursuers either 
faint upon the way or soon grow weary and stop 
the pursuit, and report, " non est inventus." Thus 
the consciousness of duty discharged soothes the 
official mind, and about such a common matter 
there is is no popular indignation ever afterwards 
to disturb his mental eqnpoise. Thieves, notorious 
thieves, receive the recognition and friendly greet- 
ings of the best men in the village, having stolen 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 139 

long enough an enough in 'quantity and quality to 
give them passports of respectability. How true 
the couplet : 

" 'T is petty thieving to rob a henroost of a hen, 
But stealing largely makes us gentlemen." 

The law is good enough, but there is no one 
good enough to enforce it. Near that village in 
December, 1883, one of the most outrageous mur- 
ders was perpetrated by two Mexicans upon a 
young Texan for purposes of robbery. It appears 
from the best data obtainable he was traveling, was 
taken ill, went into an old house out of a snow 
storm about nightfall. Some time after this the two 
Mexicans came along, went to the same house ; he 
gave them some oranges to eat, lay down for the 
night, and while asleep they took a large stone and 
crushed in his skull, stripped him of his watch, 
valuables and clothing and then dragged the body 
some distance from the cabin and concealed it be- 
hind a fallen tree, where it was discovered only 
after several weeks and after the snow had melted. 
The young man not appearing, his business partner, 
an American, growing uneasy, instituted search 
and recovered the body, offered a reward for the 
murderers, and eventually succeeded in having 
them arrested. The mother of the murderers, at 
some gathering, was seen wearing in her hair some 
pieces of the stolen watch or ornaments, and this 



140 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

led to investigation and arrest of her sons. They 
made a confession, and from this most of the facts 
are learned in reference to the manner in which he 
was killed. It is also stated that after his skull 
had been shattered by the incarnate fiends, he 
raised himself up halfway, and with glaring eyes 
fixed upon them in the agony of death, sank back 
into eternity. These men were tried in 1884 upon 
confession and other overwhelming evidence, and 
yet to-day they live — no fouler murderers in the 
annals of time. Some months ago both broke jail, 
but they were recaptured, and they now linger in 
jail, their crime almost forgotten. If such crimes 
as this go unpunished you can readily infer what 
disposition will be made of less conspicuous of- 
fenses. Of course the assassination sent a thrill 
of horror through the American residents, yet this 
and all things else failed to move the decrepit 
judge to do his simple duty. I might refer to other 
notorious instances, but with the same view the 
uncertainty and cheapness of life, the non-admin- 
istration of law and the worthlessness of its minis- 
ters. The desirableness of a habitation in such a 
locality is not enhanced by such an announcement 
as made, but my purpose is only a truthful narra- 
tive of the facts as they exist. I strive to paint 
them as I find them, as Cromwell would have 
had his painter " to paint him, nose and all." It 
seems that other artists, from flattery or other cause, 






THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 141 

had failed before to throw aright on canvas that 
great Puritan proboscis, and hence the command 
to paint him true to nature. 

The foregoing remarks as to the mal-administra- 
tion of the law do not, as before stated, generally 
apply to these sections, for I would not have you 
to believe that such a condition of things generally 
exists. It is bad enough, and I would not desire 
to exaggerate its evil condition. 

The Mountain Judges have no fixed compensation, 
I learn, and their legal pickings are very light, and 
as a consequence the best citizens will seldom fill such 
positions. And so it is the world over, talent always 
commands a premium. For the services of intel- 
ligence and integrity a fit compensation must be 
paid, and, it matters not in what vocation of life, 
asked and rendered. But these officials must live 
either upon the bounty furnished by the State or 
upon that drawn from the pockets of the suitors in 
court. Judges, more than all others, by liberal 
salaries, should be made to feel independent, un- 
swerved by any improper influences in any guise 
coming at any time from any quarter. Unless 
such is the case inefficiency and corruption creep 
in and the State hastens to its fall. I hope these 
reflections will not be considered ill-timed. 

There is yet another mode by which the notori- 
ously bad are disposed of, and of which I have not 
spoken. Organized bodies of men called " accorda- 



142 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

dos " start from opposite points and meet by under- 
standing at some intermediate place, cleaning up 
all the villains as they go. Sometimes certain set- 
tlements become so desperately bad that as a der- 
nier ressort the " accordados " take the matter in 
hand and conquer peace. This movement re- 
quires much secrecy and swiftness to be made effec- 
tive, for if known, or slowly made, the game escape 
and are not entrapped within the enclosing lines. 
These vigilantes have the sanction of the proper 
authorities to wage this war of extermination. 
And nothing short of this will answer the purpose, 
give adequate protection to society. There are 
times when blood must be taken to prevent its 
effusion, and life, too, must be taken to save the 
State. Napoleon well understood this when he di- 
rected his cannoneers to fire upon the mob in the 
streets of Paris, as he said, " to prevent the effusion 
of blood." 

From what has been written you now have the 
modes in which the public order is maintained, and 
how the law enforces its sanctions. Closely connected 
with the courts are its officials, known as lawyers. 
The Sierra Madre mountains should not be per- 
mitted to pass until the lawyer passes in review be- 
fore my readers. His modesty is less robust here 
than in any other section I have ever visited. His 
air and style immediately provoke the classic in- 
quiry, " On what meat doth this our Caesar feed 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 143 

that he hath grown so great?" His pretensions 
are as great as his ignorance of law, and this no 
man can fathom. Were he less immodest he 
would be more endurable, for we somehow or other 
will associate modesty with merit and immodesty 
with the want of it. Cynical and hypercritical 
persons charge this as a drawback on the profession, 
and I must confess, not without some reason, if the 
entire profession is to be judged by some of its 
members. But notwithstanding this blemish, he is 
upon better acquaintance generally a good-humored 
kind of companion, and almost disturbs you with 
his attentions in order that you may pass a good 
time. Disposed to be convivial and to indulge in 
those pastimes of the profession too often indulged 
in, drinking and gambling. I doubt if there is a 
lawyer in the mountains exempt from these ex- 
cesses, and this is not paying them a flattering com- 
pliment. But there is a greater defect than the 
practice referred to — one that goes to and destroys 
the foundation of character and usefulness. I now 
refer to his want of proper integrity, for such is his 
character in this respect. There is always a sus- 
picion of unfaithfulness, and that for a better con- 
sideration his treachery is purchasable. But the 
fewest number of these will hesitate to take money 
from you as their client, and from your adversary, 
from both sides, " and take it little and take it 
long." That he is unscrupulous is proverbial, and 



144 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

the extent to which he will go is only limited by 
the ability and willingness of the party upon whom 
he levies his exactions. He feels his conscience 
void of offense, and is more than willing to take to 
the uttermost farthing, and that from the nearest 
available source. He has no professional sense 
worthy of his high calling, but elsewhere in the 
profession among its honorable members would be 
regarded as a veritable shyster. Fit associate oi 
those who daily visit the purlieus of crime and 
social ruin and fatten on their offal. A kind of 
petty crime scavenger that lingers for favors in the 
ante-chambers of jails and criminal court-rooms, 
and makes the very welkio ring in recorders and 
police court tribunals to the delight of gaping 
rogues, and roughs, and shabby gentility. He 
smelleth bad meat from afar, and with carrion 
talons hasteth to the feast. As to professional ethics, 
of these he has never heard ; his game is, grab his 
client's victims, his life a standing fraud, a continu- 
ing libel upon the profession which he disgraces. 
Mexico has many eminent law T yers, men of great 
natural abilities, profound erudition and great pro- 
fessional attainments, but they do not live in , these 
mountain ranges. In the city of Mexico and other 
large cities are men of high standing and of great 
reputation, an honor to their profession and to the 
republic. Side by side they might sit without any 
disparagement with those worthies who adorn the 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 145 

historic galleries of other countries. But to these 
men of eminence these parts are a " terra incog- 
nita," an unvisited far away land. With such 
courts and such lawyers you may readily imagine 
how the law remains unadministered, while justice 
sleeps, the right is stabbed and the wrong tri- 
umphs. The thing would be farcical in the extreme 
were not the consequences so momentous to liberty, 
property and life. Charitably speaking, there is a 
probability it may not be worse here than in similar 
sections in other parts of the world, but as to this 
I am not sufficiently advised to speak affirmatively. 
In certain classes the suits are conducted when the 
law is strictly pursued with much dispatch, but in 
others the " laws delays " are fully recognized, fully 
appreciated and fully adhered to. There are regu- 
lar counterparts of the celebrated Jarndyce vs. 
Jarndyce which have a beginning, but like a ring 
without an end. If in these any considerable 
amount is involved before the end of the suit it 
has " grown small by degrees and beautifully less," 
until the parties in interest are glad to escape by 
leaving the " remainder interest" to the wrangling 
lawyers. And then these fellows fight on like Kil- 
kenny cats till nothing is left, neither hair nor 
hide, and death curtains the scene. To this class 
to entrust the collection of money will be to say, 
" buenos noches" (good night), and for you the 
song of the money will be, " farewell, vain world, 

10 



146 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

I'm going home." Lawyers collect more money 
than all other agents, and this without bonds, and 
yet to their credit be it said, there are fewer defal- 
cations among them than any other class of offi- 
cials. I now, of course, speak of the worthy 
members of the profession, whose integrity is their 
bond, whose past life is the surest guarantee for the 
future, and not the professional sharps and scape- 
graces, who daily dishonor themselves and bring 
reproach upon the profession. These pettifoggers 
have not the remotest conception of law as a 
science, as a philosophy, but as thousands do, have 
gone into it with some collateral object, as a step- 
ping-stone tii something beyond. These are un- 
worthy motives, and those who are prompted by 
them will never pass beyond mediocre positions on 
the highway to professional eminence. Truly has 
it been said by a great master, the law is a "jeal- 
ous mistress " and to her you must give your time 
and talent, your toils through the long years, if 
you would fill a conspicuous niche in her temple. 
Hence she will have no half-hearted consecration 
to her service, but her requirements are the best 
you have of time, talent and energy. Her mem- 
bers, in ancient and modern times throughout the 
world, have graced and strengthened every position 
in government, been foremost in peace and in war, 
been leaders in camps and in courts. They have 
given to senates and cabinets the wealth of their 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 147 

fame, and crowned the higher judiciaries of 
the nations with the luster of their imperishable 
names. 

But I find I am pursuing the theme further than 
the proprieties of the occasion demand, and now 
this unworthy mountain professional I will turn 
over to the tender meditations of my indulgent 
readers. But I forget, there is one other character- 
istic which he possesses that should not go unno- 
ticed. In his efforts to collect money he is cold- 
blooded, conscienceless, and as remorseless as fate. 
To do this, ingeniously fruitful in resources, vexa- 
tiously annoying in expedients, in season and out 
of season, unmindful of age, sex or condition, he 
presses forward to the accomplishment of his pur- 
pose regardless of the wrecks left behind. It is 
said that a Tennessee lawyer caused an execution 
to be levied for debt upon the plank, called a 
" cooling board," on which the dead body of the 
debtor but a short time before had been laid pre- 
paratory to interment, and this in the presence of 
his agonized family. This I have regarded as an 
exaggerated story, but some of these men of 
whom I am now writing are capable of greater 
heartlessness. They would even strip the body 
of its scanty burial vestments and send it 
out of the world as naked as it came into it, 
a selfish meanness that shocks even the savage 
breast. 



148 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

And now for having spoken so much of the 
mountain shyster I make apology, and leave him 
in the pillory of his own creation, on the summit 
of his "bad eminence." 



CHAPTER XXII. 

LITTLE CHILDREN. — HOW THEY LIVE. — MORTAL- 
ITY. — st. john j s day. — dress. 

It is always interesting to note the early mani- 
festations of character, " the baby figures of giant 
things to come at large," and to follow develop- 
ments through intermediate stages into maturity, 
to see the spring flowers, sweet prophecies of the 
summer and autumnal fruit. The fond mother 
watches with an undiminished interest her child, as 
in the volume of life are turned the pages from in- 
fancy to childhood, from childhood to maturity and 
age. And so have I here watched the unfoldings 
of character, seen at first as through a glass darkly, 
but when oftener seen, the salient features come 
out in relief and bespeak the "true inwardness " 
of their possessor. The study of character includ- 
ing its analysis, has not only an attractiveness but 
a fascination. And thus have I broken the weary 
tedium of the hours by taking to pieces different 
Mexican characters, examining their constituents 
in relation to each other and searching out the 
motives and main-springs of conduct. There is 

149 



160 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

much truth in the paradox, " the child is father to 
the man." For example, the poor children ex- 
hibit the traits of their parents; they can not rise 
higher, and hardly sink lower. And to note these 
in the habits, aptitudes, mental and moral manifes- 
tations is an interesting study. I have had oppor- 
tunities to see them in different phases of life, un- 
der different conditions, but in the main presenting 
the same stereotyped characteristics. With one 
sentence they may be almost photographed ; mental 
weakness and moral obliquities distinguish them 
from all the children I ever knew. Doubtless 
much of this is an ancestral heritage. Physical 
deformities and their repulsive ailments, coming 
through vitiated blood for generations, are seen on 
every hand. There is not that light-heartedness oi 
childhood we are accustomed to see where sunshine 
fills the homes and hearts. If now and then sun- 
shine comes, it seems to come through rifted clouds, 
and shadows soon succeed, and leave their spirits 
sad. Childhood has no joys for them. I have 
thought they did not play nor sing, nor shout as 
others did, but for some reason there was wanting 
that zest so necessary to make the enjoyment com- 
plete. They play and sing but little, and with 
merriment seldom boisterous. How unlike child- 
hood in happy homes, where happy parents are 
made the happier by shouts and songs of happy 
children ; where the little girl, in sweet mimicry, 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 151 

plays with " Dolly," life's pursuits, until weary with 
her joys she sleeps in mother's arms ; when boys 
signal their departure and herald their return with 
noise and make the household feel there is life within 
and life without. It is a great thing to be a boy ; we 
can only be boys once, with their hopes and aspira- 
tions and energies, sound sleep and wakeful hours. 
It is a great thing to be a school-boy, with 
books and fun and frolic, to play as well as study, 
and on holidays with dog and gun to hunt the nim- 
ble squirrel, or chase the hare through woods and 
briars, or with angling rod and worms in shallow 
streams to take the silver minnows, and then to 
close the rounds of the day's delight and take a 
forbidden bath. It is great to go to town, to go to 
the mill, to see the clown, to take the forbidden 
fruit, as others did, to wear store clothes and first 
cravats, to be father's pride and mother's joy — and 
then to be a man ! Sweet memories come from 
childhood's hours to smooth the wrinkles of old 
age. These are thoughts that come from far-off 
home, and not from scenes around me. These 
little ones with pinched and unwashed faces tell of 
want and of some one's neglect. With scantiest 
clothing and shoeless feet, from cold they seek the 
sunny sides, and find in the sun a friend who shines 
for all. It is a curious fact that in villages of many 
hundreds of people you may not find a half-dozen 
fire-places outside of the quarter used for cooking 



152 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

purposes. And this, too, in places where the snow 
at times falls to the depths of several feet. Here 
blankets are necessary to sleep comfortably every 
night in the year — ice in May, and yet no fire- 
places in the houses. The people say that fires are 
unhealthy. The little children may be seen in the 
streets on the frozen ground in midwinter bare- 
footed and nearly naked. While but few present 
a really healthy appearance, it indicates to what 
hardships one may become inured. Were these 
things to take place in the United States, those 
having charge would be taken into custody by the 
officials of the " Society for the Prevention ot 
Cruelty to Children." But here these little ones 
are overlooked by the philanthropist, and it is, 
turn them loose, do as you please, "root pig or 
die." They seldom taste meat, but subsist on tor- 
tillas and beans, and by way of a change invert the 
order and eat beans and tortillas. Now one can 
stand the same bill of fare for seventy-five or a 
hundred consecutive times, especially if it only 
comprises two articles of diet, but to make a regu- 
lar thing of it, impairs the digestive apparatus. 
With tireless houses, sameness and insufficiency of 
food the little children have a tough time of it. 
The percentage of mortality is necessarily high — 
the statistics I do not know, as none are kept — for 
while human nature is very accommodating it can't 
stand everything. 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 153 

Many of them have a sad expression before the 
activities of life have commenced — a look as if 
some hidden something was beclouding and bur- 
dening their young lives. It is sad to see the face 
of childhood with tearless eyes and penciled with 
lines as of premature care. Better far to see the 
falling tears swiftly followed by the rippling laugh- 
ter. The faces of these little ones are washed but 
seldom, and in the course of time there is such an 
accumulation of dirt as to be suggestive of a 
" boom " in real estate. The truth is, they are not 
encouraged either by example or precept to indulge 
in such ablutions. They appear to have a natural 
aversion to such a practice, and all kinds of excuses 
are framed not to do it. Seeing a little fellow once 
with an unusually dirty face, I asked him why he 
did n't wash his face. He gave me some evasive 
answer. After the lapse of several days, seeing he 
had not done so, I again asked him why he didn't 
wash it, when he aswered, "Well, Senor, manana," 
to-morrow. This reply illustrates two traits of 
Mexican character, his indisposition to wash his 
face, and the habit of procrastination. They re- 
verse in practice the wise maxim, never put off till 
to-morrow what can be done to-day, by never doing 
to-day what may be done to-morrow. I asked a 
Mexican gentleman in the morning, who had re- 
mained with me during the night, if he would wash 
his face, and he replied in the negative, saying the 



154 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

water was very cold. There is one day in the year, 
however, when it is said all of them go to the little 
stream and indulge in a bath. I think it is St. 
John's Day in June. It is possible that this may 
be something of a religious observance, and en- 
joined upon them. I believe, on this occasion, the 
little children also go in and make the acquaintance 
of fresh water. Better once than never. You may 
imagine well how they look with patches of grease 
and dirt on their faces as large as the map of Cuba. 
Long black streaks are sometimes seen in the fore- 
ground like strips of adhesive plaster binding the 
severed parts together. The circle around the 
neck begins where the clothes cease to protect, and 
is as visible as the high water-mark around the 
trees after the subsidence of a freshet in the low- 
lands. Infrequently the comb visits the hair, 
which remains matted and tangled in skeins, or if 
you please, poetically disheveled, and with hair un- 
combed as a consequence, its numerous denizens 
would continue undisturbed, did not intrusive 
finger nails for the time break off the riotous feast. 
If cleanliness be next to godliness, then the infer- 
erence is, the unclean and the ungodly are neigh- 
bors. 

Observation every day teaches the lesson, that 
so much neglect and filth are unfavorable to moral 
growth and a pure life. These children, although 
having fathers and mothers, appear like orphans in 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 155 

the world, floating pieces of drift wood in the stream 
of time. " Just as the twig is bent the tree is in- 
clined," and these tender twigs are rudely bent, and 
furnish bad materials out of which to build a State. 
The State is as are its citizens, and its citizens are 
its children full grown. But of this class the few- 
est number know even the rudiments of an educa- 
tion. So ignorance and vice go hand in hand to 
the final subversion of good morals and good 
government. The little fellows, children of penury, 
so poorly clad and fed, do not, by any means, lead 
lives of uninterrupted ease. I have seen them 
when certainly not more than six years of age fol- 
lowing burros, goaded by others, to urge these 
patient animals forward to their destination. And 
to get up a " star route " for a burro and il expe- 
dite " him is no child's play, but business of ex- 
traordinary character. The male children are 
clothed in pants, to use the language of Wilkins 
Micawber, ere they have ceased to draw from the 
"maternal font." The natural inconvenience re- 
sulting from such a style of dress, it would appear, 
would induce a change in the fashion plates, but 
while the seasons change this style " goes on for- 
ever." " Little kids " in pants before the appear- 
ing of the first tooth, when the mother cries in 
rapture, " I found it first," are as ridiculous as 
" puss in boots." The little girls wear dresses 
reaching nearly to the ground and appear like 



1&6 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

little old women of the Lilliputian race. Every fe- 
male, children included, wears " rebosas," a kind of 
veil or wrap, artfully thrown around their necks and 
heads, concealing very much of the face on all oc- 
casions and in all seasons. The richest are un- 
dressed without, and the poor are dressed with it. 
They will persist in wearing it, notwithstanding its 
inconvenience and uselessness, even when occupied 
in many household pursuits. The little boys, in 
place of jackets, wear a wrap, generally woolen, 
thrown around them, called a " zarape," which is 
their covering by day and by night. With thin 
shirt and pants and zarape, and no shoes, he seems 
born to be the " legal tender" of the burro train, 
and grows to manhood following over the moun- 
tains these slow-paced animals. The Arab children 
are said to sleep unharmed in the tent of the high- 
mettled steed, but here the boys of the mountains 
take to the burro with an unsurpassed enthusiasm, 
as if he were their " long-lost brother." Have you 
never noticed that sometimes there seems to be a 
similitude between some animals and their owners ! 
It may be a mere fancy, and the principle of assso- 
ciation may suggest the resemblance, but so it is, 
the remark is often made, whether founded on fact 
or imagination. Now the boy and the burro are 
on such intimate terms that the one seems a comple- 
ment of the other, and the boy without the burro 
or the burro without the boy gives rise to the ap- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 1S7 

prehension that a link is lost and that the family 
circle is broken. The boy cuffs him and beats him 
as boys will do, yet if not on the dry mountain 
sides, down in the heart of the urchin is an Eden 
of pasture for the musical friend of his youth, the 
caliope donkey. But at this time I do not propose 
further comments upon this animal, reserving these 
for some future occasion, when under discussion 
may pass his merits and demerits, his uses and 
abuses. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

PEON CHARACTER. — LYING. — PERFIDIOUS. — LA- 
BOR. — DRUNKENNESS. — RELIGIOUS LIFE. — SA- 
CRED WORSHIP. 

In time the full-fledged peon boy becomes the full- 
grown peon man, and to this individual I will now 
direct your attention, for he is worthy of consider- 
ation. In the make-up of Mexican life he has 
his place, and his place can never be filled by 
proxy. The truth is, in the social economy he 
stands, like a drinking friend of mine once said in 
reference to whisky, that this " stood like Adam's 
recollection before the fall, alone." The pen can 
not paint him as the eye sees him, or as the ear hears 
him, or as the mind perceives him. A faithful deline- 
ation can hardly be made, for he escapes the color- 
ing of the mere pen artist. The instantaneous pho- 
tographic process may catch him as he is, as it takes 
the race-horse in its flight, but I am sure nothing 
short of this will, in faithful portraiture, transfer 
to canvas this unique type of man. I can only 
present some of his more salient features, a rough 
outline, but the picture must be disappointing to 
158 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 159 

those who see him as he is, a " McGregor on his 
native heath." In physique I should say rather 
under than over the medium size, of swarthy com- 
plexion, and generally dark hair and eyes. In his 
blood is a large admixture of Indian, but this ele- 
ment has rather improved than debased him. One 
of Mexico's greatest and best men is said to have 
been a full-blooded Indian. I now refer to Presi- 
dent Juarez. The history of the Republic would 
be incomplete were the public measures inaugurated 
by him during his administration left untold. But 
the Spanish and Indian, when mixed, have fused 
into them the evil traits of both, and present to the 
world, I think, an anomalous character. At least in 
my wanderings, upon careful analysis, I have never 
found his counterpart. I am a great believer in 
blood — in blooded stock, blooded men and women 
— and hence I refer to the peon blood. And is 
there not much truth in the saying, " blood will 
tell " ? Little buzzards are never found in the nests 
with eaglets. Giants do not spring from pigmies, 
nor do gentlemen from base-born slaves and boors. 
Culture may do much to weaken the taint, but 
now and then, after the lapse of a generation, it 
may be, it will reappear in some distant scion of 
the bad-blooded progenitor. Surely to the third 
and fourth generations it descends, exhibiting ever 
and anon its vicious manifestations. 

In the first place, his life is a daily violation of 



160 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

the eighth commandment, " Thou shalt not steal." 
Judging from the proficiency which he has acquired 
in this business, of necessity taking much time, one 
can almost imagine that he was born stealing. I 
am sure had he been consulted, and could he have ex- 
ercised his preference, he would have stolen into the 
world. What he won't steal must be either invisi- 
ble, inaccessible, imponderable, or in some way in- 
appreciable. There is nothing susceptible of hu- 
man handling, either too hot or cool, too wet or too 
dry which I have ever seen, that can escape his 
stealthy touch. He appears to steal first for the 
pure, or impure, love of the thing, u to keep his 
hand in," and to gratify an inborn desire to get 
hold of that which belongs to another. And this 
desire "grows by what it feeds upon," and he is 
careful to give it plenty of food when opportunity 
presents itself, and clothing, too, for that matter. 
Many things in this way he will appropriate which 
he does n't need, nor can he make them serviceable 
in any possible way; yet take them he will, obeying 
an instinct of his nature and the education of his 
life. He is expected to steal, and he never disap- 
points expectations; in fact, even among those who 
are accustomed to his " ways that are dark and 
tricks that are vain," the novelty and dexterity 
of his thefts are a succession of surprises. But 
this only shows what well-directed eiforts can ac- 
complish. It" may take time, much time, if the 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 161 

conditions are unfavorable, and there is no natural 
aptitude for the business, but persistency of effort 
will ultimately achieve the coveted prize. But re- 
verse the order of things, and with an inherited 
proclivity to do certain things, these then can be 
done almost without any apparent effort. This 
may furnish a key to the wonderful performances of 
the peon, in the line of which we are now treating. 
The juggling feats of some of the Eastern men are 
said to be most marvelous — putting your money in 
their pockets, unseen by you, and then in the same 
way returning it to you. These peons can beat 
these tricks, for by a species of legerdemain they 
can take it out of your pocket and never return 
it I Had he happened with Judas Iscariot in his 
hour of contrition, he might have relieved his con- 
science by relieving him of the thirty pieces of 
silver, with which he would have bought Palestine 
whisky, and never invested it in a " field of blood." 
I do not say he will permit the fox to eat out his 
vitals rather than give up the stolen things, like 
the one in ancient history ; but when accused of 
the theft, with proof positive, his denials, were they 
paving-stones, would have built the Appian Way. 
Now, if you think he is honest, I do n't. I think 
he is a thief. Some men are naturally dishonest, 
and are honest from policy ; some are naturally 
honest, and honest from principle. But the peon 
is honest neither from principle nor policy, but 

11 



162 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

dishonest from both. The motives which induce 
bis apparent favors are not unmixed with evil ; 
down in his heart he sees, or thinks he sees, some 
way in which he can take advantage of you, and 
in the end injure you and help himself. Absolute 
necessity may force him to work, but it can never 
force him to do an honest day's work unwatched. 
He will either cheat in time, or faithfulness of ex- 
ecution. 

There may be at times some excuse for stealing, cer- 
tainly some palliation for it — to relieve, for instance, 
the pangs of hunger. But what can we say in ex- 
tenuation of that other vice in the character of the 
peon, commonly denominated lying ? Necessity does 
not prompt to this, as often it does to stealing, and 
hence it stands unrelieved in its moral deformity for 
this reason. He is a cold-blooded, heartless deceiver, 
who lies for a purpose, and that purpose to rob you of 
some object, or defeat you in some aim, by which 
from malignity or dishonesty he hopes to make gain. 
But wanting in moral principle, the peon does not 
hesitate to lie without scruple by wholesale and 
retail. His fathers did it before him, and he has 
never ceased to be a faithful follower of their bad 
example. Probably he now sees nothing wrong 
in it, so blunted have become his moral percep- 
tions. To his responses to your questions there is 
always felt an uncertainty, and a hesitancy to act 
in the absence of confirmation. For some unac- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 163 

countable reason there may be one in a hundred 
who may not deserve my criticism, but the remain- 
der can not plead exemption from the righteous- 
ness of my animadversions. The little ones lie as 
well as the big ones, and often the little ones are 
the biggest of liars, exhibiting in this particular an 
amazing precocity. The more intelligent, the more 
inventive, and, I am sorry to say, the more reck- 
less and unscrupulous. Education in and of itself 
will not prevent men from an indulgence in this 
disreputable practice, in the cultivation of this 
vice. I wish it were otherwise, but such is not the 
fact. 

Superadded to the two foregoing evils the peon 
is also perfidious. You can never give him your 
lull confidence. There is always a suspicion, right- 
fully entertained, too, that when the opportune 
moment comes to him he will betray you. For 
years they may give no evidence of unfaithfulness, 
and yet suddenly they will turn upon you, either to 
rob or kill. The more demonstrative in their at- 
tentions, pronounced in their expressions of attach- 
ment, the less reliance can be placed upon them. 
Protestations of unfailing friendship are likely, 
sooner or later, to be followed by unexpected treach- 
ery. And thus while abject menials, they are dan- 
gerous servants, for you know not the hour when 
their mean passions may plunge the knife to your 
heart. A sense of gratitude, if it exists at all, is 



164 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

reduced to the minimum towards those who have 
been their benefactors. They do not appreciate 
gentle treatment, but often take advantage to wrong 
you in some way. The more liberal you are to- 
wards them the less benefit it is to them and their 
families, for the extra compensation is immediately 
expended not upon their household, but in drunken 
excesses and riotous living. Your liberality stops 
them from work, for until their money is spent j 
they care not to work, and will not do it, either for I 
love or more money. Their own people under- < 
stand them well, much better than others can hope to 
do with only a few years' residence in the country, j 
To keep them regularly at work and earn some I 
subsistence for their families, they give them barely I 
living wages. When this is strictly followed your 
labor is prompt ; when not, your mistaken policy J 
results not only in an injury to you, but to them J 
and those depending upon them. This may seem 
like a harsh rule to those who know not these peo- I 
pie, but experience soon demonstrates the correct- « 
ness of the treatment. 

It may appear inhuman and unjust, but it savors 
of statesmanship, doing, nevertheless, the " greatest 
good to the greatest number." As they live prin- 
cipally upon corn, then corn becomes the barome- 
ter of their efficiency. As corn goes down, re- 
quiring less money to purchase the necessary supply, 
the excess^of money is a misspent in some species of 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 16*5 

debauchery, quitting work until the capital is ex- 
hausted. As corn goes up in price, it requires more 
work to buy it, and hence there is steadier employ- 
ment to the benefit of themselves, their wives and 
children. No one fact is better understood than 
this, that so long as they have money they will not 
work. But the most efficient remedy to induce a re- 
turn to employment is to put up the price of corn, and 
then it is the staff of life and becomes an instrument 
to chastise the idle and vicious for the good of them- 
selves. Sentimental philanthropists may inveigh 
against the policy adopted, but that " man shall live 
by the sweat of his face," is as true to-day as when 
our -first parents, 

11 Hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow, through 
Eden took their solitary way." 

And the apostle tells us, let him not eat that 
worketh not. So labor is the order of life, freely 
or compulsorily done, whatever to the contrary may 
be the theories of Utopian philosophers. But the 
peon has had hard task-masters for long periods of 
time, and this should plead something in extenua- 
tion of his present state of character. The hard- 
ships to which he has been subjected should perhaps 
induce a judgment leavened with charity. But I 
speak of him as he is, as I find him in business, and 
the relations of life, surely a fit subject, worthy of 
the efforts of the most ardent reformer. He is a 



166 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

great drunkard. But as for that, there is probably 
not one in fifty of the Mexicans in this section, 
peon or not, who does not get drunk. It is almost 
a universal custom. High and low, rich and poor, 
indulge alike in the Bacchanalian revels. And the 
poor peon, mistaking the fine examples to shun for 
fine examples to imitate, drifts with the sweeping 
current. 

Then, in this condition, he is the very quintessence 
of meanness incarnated, the very embodiment of 
the evil passions uncaged. A drunken peon's ball 
is the revel of wild beasts. Probably the character 
of the liquor has much to do with the character of 
the performance. Here the most that is drunk is 
made from a native plant, and often made in such 
a manner that it " outvenoms all the worms of 
Nile." Not being copper distilled, it requires one 
to be "copper bottomed " to prevent his immediate 
consumption. One mouthful of it is said to make 
one's nerves tingle, as if they were jerked by a suc- 
cession of fighting electric currents, while his brain 
goes wild in the delirium of the moment, causing the 
victim, like some blind giant, to strike right and 
left, smiting down friend and foe. Mescal and 
Tequilah* are the favorite drinks. The former 
sells for about three cents a drink, and its cheapness 
brings it within the capacity of the peon, and he 
gladly avails himself of the privilege, like many 



Pronounced Tekela. 






THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 167 

in the higher walks of life, to make a nuisance and 
a brute of himself. With him the strength of this 
appetite can not be measured. It is his solace, chief 
delight, perennial joy. It matters not if his wife 
and children are shivering in tatters, and pinched 
with famine, something at least must go to purchase 
this accursed fire for his second nature. He is a fine 
subject for a temperance lecture. The picture of a 
drunken peon, with his repulsive surroundings, is 
enough to win for Prohibition universal approval. 
When unable to protect himself, the State 
should protect him from himself. It is a rec- 
ognized principle that no one can use his property 
to the prejudice of others, nor should he use himself 
to the detriment of others, whether these be the 
State, or his immediate household, whose natural 
guardian he is. 

We turn now to his religious life. Many of 
them, especially the worst of them, are most dem- 
onstrative in this respect. They observe with 
many scruples their numerous saints' days, but 
generally take occasion to wind up the day in some 
drunken orgies. But the saint is appeased, and on 
the morrow he is religiously prepared to meet the 
obligations of life, provided he is not still too un- 
well, and is out of prison. But did you ever think 
how often men are inconsistent in their worship? 
The anniversary of the birth of our Saviour, for in- 
stance, is celebrated throughout the Christian world, 



168 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

but in numerous parts in drunken carousals. It 
should be a season of fervent joy from the heart, but 
not for indulgence of the unbridled appetites. But 
to return, the peon has the utmost faith in the pro- 
tecting power of his tutelar saint, and to it pays 
a blind obeisance. His or her image of very 
cheap material and rude construction he generally 
wears suspended about his neck, so that in any 
place and at any time he can make his invocations. 
How many saints there are which he worships I 
have not been able to learn, but I have sometimes 
thought nearly equal in number to the days in the 
year. If a child is taken sick before they can give 
it the remedy prescribed, the saint must be called 
upon to bless the medicine with healing power. 
And should it be restored all credit is given to the 
aforesaid saint ; but should it die, the saint is none 
the less worthy of worship, but for some unknown 
reason was disinclined to interpose his power to 
cure, perhaps unappeased for some unintended af- 
front. If a fire is burning the house over their 
heads, the women will run into the streets with 
crosses in their hands and calling upon the 
saint to extinguish the flames. But I have never 
yet known a raging fire to be stayed in its march, 
or put out by their prayers. But silly men and 
women will persist in using a spiritual weapon to 
control a natural element, and the consequence is, 
while they are without at prayers, their fireside 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 169 

altars within are sinking in the flames. I mention 
this to show the strength of their faith in their 
saintly existences, and how strongly superstition 
holds them in its grasp. Where this saint worship 
prevails to a large extent you may rest assured that 
its devotees are poor, ignorant and priest-ridden. 
The poorest and most miserable lazzaroni in the 
world, I presume, are 1o be found in a certain dis- 
trict in Italy, where it is said they observe about 
sixty saints' days ! Think of these poor maccaroni- 
eating slaves, barely able with their daily wages to 
pin soul and body together, yet doing nothing for 
sixty days in the year but worshiping saints. No 
wonder they are poor and squalid, and miserable, 
and always will be until they revise and reduce the 
number of their saints. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

MINERS. — PLAN OF EDUCATION. — INCEST. — INCI- 
DENT. 

The peon miners have some saiut who is pre- 
sumed to preside over the mine and to bless espe- 
cially the miners who worship him and to keep 
them from harm while following their perilous vo- 
cation. A shrine, a cross, a lighted candle, bespeak 
the homage of their hearts, while a song of devo- 
tion from within echoes far and long among the 
rocky corridors of the mine. But this saint does 
not grant them salvation from danger, as will be 
shown from the many appalling mining catastro- 
phes which sometimes take place. Upon this 
saint's days, some time in May, the miners will go 
in procession, under triumphal arches, decorated 
with evergreen, to the shaft of the mine, bearing 
the image of the saint, about the size ot an ordi- 
nary doll, and having reached the mine will then 
engage in some devotional exercises. This saint is 
placed upon a small platform, over-canopied with 
some coarse material and borne upon the shoulders 
of some of the party, who frequently change 
170 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 171 

among themselves in order to distribute the burden 
and the honor. A long retinue of straggling boys 
and women generally brings up the rear. The head 
of the procession is preceded by one of the num- 
ber, attended by several boys, who shake the earth 
by exploding numerous charges of giant powder 
from time to time. Singular again, isn't it, to 
worship with giant powder ! The observance of 
this day is rigidly enjoined, and under no condition 
could you induce one of these fellows to forego this 
religious festival. But like nearly all others, it 
ends in a promiscuous, universal drunk, and it is 
fortunate if you can get them to return to work for 
a week. It generally happens that several never 
return, as they have been numbered among the 
casualties of the festive occasion, and now sleep 
the unawaking sleep in the " Campo Santo," under 
the watchcare of their patron saint. 

As to education, but the fewest number can read 
and write ; in fact, there is scarcely one that can do 
so. They are veritable rough ashlers in the social 
structure ; while at the very bottom, they make a 
very insecure foundation on which to rest the pil- 
lars of State, wanting in those two prerequisites, 
virtue and intelligence, declared by Washington in 
his farewell address to be indispensable to the per- 
petuity of a free government. But the peon has 
neither opportunity nor capacity for the acquire- 
ment of an education, and thus lives out his days 



If 2 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

in ignorance and moral bankruptcy. Nor so far as 
I can see, does he manifest any inclination to im- 
prove his condition, but prefers, from choice, the 
continued indulgence of his groveling tastes, 
vicious propensities, and general meanness. You 
can't make something out of nothing. That be- 
longs to a higher power. You may polish the 
rough diamond, but it was a diamond before it re- 
ceived the touch of the lapidary. But you can 't 
polish the peon unless you possess creative power, 
for he has been denied this susceptibility. Some- 
times when I contemplate him, I almost conclude 
that he may at least be a kind of connecting link 
in the order of creation. 'Tis then, too, the coup- 
let often occurs to me which was applied to the 
brilliant Sheridan : 

" That nature never made but one such man, 
And broke the die when casting Sheridan." 

They are the prey of odious and unspeakable 
vices. Incest is frequently known among them, 
the father and the son cohabiting with the child 
and sister, thus, in the very wantonness of bestial- 
ity, outraging all the decencies of life and morals, 
all law, human and divine. But this practice is 
not confined to the peon class, others in higher sta- 
tions are sometimes guilty of this monstrous in- 
iquity. And yet, where it is practiced, it seems 
neither the law nor the moral sense of the com- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 173 

munity is sufficiently strong to abate it. Is there a 
deeper depth than this infamous degradation? 
Can sounding plummet line go beyond it? Open 
and notorious lewdness is seen on every hand. 
Were this confined to the lowest class it might be 
less censurable, but such is not the case. I am in- 
formed of one, an honored citizen (f), who has had 
a seraglio of his own, at one time, with half a 
dozen inmates, and suspecting the unfaithfulness of 
one of these, with a refined cruelty, he took a 
needle and picked out one of her eyes ; the other 
one he spared, that she might henceforth recognize 
the mercy of her loving lord in not inflicting total 
blindness ! 



CHAPTER XXV. 

A STYLE OF DRESS. — PEONAGE SYSTEM. 

It may now be interesting to note the peon's 
style of dress, for you know it is said " the tailor 
makes the man." But whether to commence my 
description at his head, and go down, or at his feet 
and go up, I am somewhat puzzled. His sombrero 
is always broad-brimmed, and the finer the material 
the more suitable to his cultivated taste. If there 
is any one part of the dress upon which he centers 
his affection it is his hat. He wants it loaded down 
with yellow lace and big spangles, while conspicu- 
ous lassels fall in the rear. Had he money he 
would willingly give fifty dollars to get something 
in this line just to his taste. A twenty -five dollar 
hat and a twenty-five cents pair of guarachies for 
his feet, is the relative estimate he places upon his 
extremities. The sanitary maxim he ignores, to 
keep the head cool and the feet warm. He is look- 
ing after his head, and his feet, it may be like those 
of the peacock, are only seen to excite a feeling of 
shame, for he will instinctively contrast the pov- 
erty of his foot with the splendor of his head gear. 
174 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 175 

But this is one of the peculiarities of the entire 
Mexican people, conspicuous hats, burdened with 
heavy and showy adornments. So in this particu- 
lar the peon is but an imitator of the better por- 
tion of his countrymen, who often pay as much as 
fifty dollars for a Sombrero, when most elaborately 
adorned. It is " binding } ' enough in our country 
for the " old man " to plank down such a sum for 
a spring bonnet, or rather a nondescript termed a 
bonnet, and this is often done more in auger than 
sorrow; but if the male members, too, were to in- 
dulge in such extravagance the voice of wailing 
would soon be heard in the land. His zarepe, next 
to bis hat,is that on which he sets the highest estimate. 
This is a woolen blanket, often very flashy and 
parti-colored. This is his invariable attendant in 
all seasons, and under alt conditions, and is to him 
a jacket as well as it serves the double purpose of 
bed and bedding. So you see he presents this curi- 
ous spectacle, if he goes to bed he takes his bed 
with him, and when he goes to work he does the 
same thing. If the weather is cold he wears his 
bed wrapped around him, and if it is hot he may 
loosen the fold, but wears it all the same. It is a 
partial protection in unseasonable weather, but an 
incumbrance when it is good. Were we to apostro- 
phize it, we woud paraphraze Mrs. Hemans and say, 
" O zarepe, thou hast all seasons for thine own." But 
there is another garment, which is white cotton 



176 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

cloth, about two feet square. This is folded once, 
and to leave the lower points to cover the seat of 
his pants. It is a beautiful habit, and when thus 
folded and worn it is so suggestive of a baby 
clothes lines in the winter time stretched before 
the fire in the nursery room. A singular scene is 
presented when men and boys are seen, each thus 
arrayed, reminding one of big and little tadpoles 
ere they have shed their tails and grown into the 
proportions of frogs. But they utilize them by 
carrying within tbem their tobacco, handkerchief, 
and stolen articles. 

The shirt of the peon is commonly of the flim- 
siest texture and worn outside of his pants. I think 
it was Sunset Cox, some years since, when making 
in Congress a speech upon the Chinese question, in 
reply to some inquiry why he didn't like the Chi- 
nese, said by way of a climax, that he did n't like 
any man that wore his shirt on the outside of his 
pants ! And I fully indorse the patriotic sentiment. 
His pants are made of white cotton cloth, so very 
large in the legs as to cover his feet and remind 
one of a very small girl in very large pantelettes. 
His guarachies, consisting of a single piece of sole- 
leather tied to the bottom of his foot with leathern 
thongs coming up between his toes and finally 
fastened securely around his ankles, make up the 
tout ensemble of this gentleman's wardrobe. Thus 
accoutred, he presents an appearance of no ordinary 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 1?7 

attractiveness. With his winning ways, his en- 
gaging attentions, the heart must be callous indeed 
that would fail to respond in reciprocating terms to 
his soft palaver — his words of liquid sweetness. 
He may be uncomely, but " beauty is as beauty 
does," you know, and if I have failed to delineate 
him as he is, I have not set down " aught in mal- 
ice," but have failed from want of sufficient de- 
scriptive powers. 

However, it might not be amiss to say some- 
thing of the system under which he has been 
reared, that of peonage, as it is called. The gov- 
ernment, from time to time in the past, for distin- 
guished military or other services ceded to individ- 
uals immense tracts of lands. And others in some 
way acquired great landed possesssions also. But 
these without tenants were of no value to their 
proprietors, and the poor own no lands, and to live 
must necessarily become the tenants of these great 
barons. They were compelled to pay such a price 
for the privilege of becoming tenants, that they 
became in arrears, and these, with their accumula- 
tions of exorbitant interest, made it thereafter im- 
possible ever to extricate themselves from the yoke 
of thraldom. Henceforth, like a drowning chicken, 
the more they struggles the deeper they sank. 
Whatever supplies they needed, the actual neces- 
saries of life, they must buy from their landlord, 
who was not scrupulous as to the price charged, but 
12 



178 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

was careful that it should be so high as to keep his 
tenants in the toils. And thus it was they passed 
into the slavery of debt, and must remain upon the 
premises until the indebtedness was discharged. 
If a peon sought to escape from the condition of 
servitude he was pursued, arrested and remanded to 
the possession of his owner. That is what these 
proprietors were called, owners, masters, and they 
were spoken of as owning so many peons by virtue 
alone of having debts against them for certain 
sums. If the owner transferred his hacienda, his 
real estate, he sold with them the peons upon the 
place, for they were considered as a part and parcel 
of the possessions. You may readily imagine the 
treatment to which they were subjected under the 
system, compared with which that of former slav 
ery in the South was an unmixed luxury. An 
to-day, in some parts of the Republic, the system 
practically obtains, for they are still imprisoned for 
debt, restrained of their liberty for its non-payment, 
should k they wish to remove elsewhere, and this 
notwithstanding the present constitution of Mex- 
ico, modeled upon that of the United States, posi- 
tively forbids, in civil matters imprisonment for 
debt. But these poor peons have not yet heard of 
such law, and will not likely hear of it, if they 
are to get the information from the lips of their 
masters. Some of the principal newspapers pub 
lished in the capital are inveighing against th 



r 

; 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 179 

practice of these landed aristocrats continuing this 
peonage system, thereby acknowledging its exist- 
ence ; yet I apprehend it will take a long time to 
do away with the system, it has become so thor- 
oughly ingrafted in exterior sections in the labor 
operations of the country. And then the peon has 
no interested friend at court to speak in his behalf, 
but the supposed interest of the more intelligent and 
wealthy who might befriend him, it is thought by 
them would be antagonized by his release from 
slavery. And as it is, he plods along, he and his 
children, unimproved in mind, morals, body, or 
estate, and probably in these incapable of im- 
provement, to the undetermined destiny that awaits 
him. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

CREDITOR CLASS. — EXTORTION. — CONSCIENCELESS. 

I have adverted, rather incidentally to those 
Mexicans known as the creditor class, but now pro- 
pose to submit some additional reflections as to 
these. I do so because they are worthy of at least 
a running commentary upon their idiosyncracies. 
I presume this last word is sufficiently large and 
significant to cover the traits of this Mexican type. 
In this treatment I must " hew to the line, let the 
chips fall where they may." His study by day and 
by uight is how he may further entangle and op- 
press some poor unfortunate victim whom misfor- 
tune may have thrown in his power. He merci- 
lessly devises all sorts of ingenious expedients the 
further to crush this helpless mortal. One of his 
chief instrumentalities is usury. He lends, re- 
news, compounds, and then, just for "accommo- 
dation/' he relends, re-renews, and re-compounds. 
It takes but a very short time before the chains 
are forged and the manacles are riveted. And 
then the accommodating gentleman becomes the 
haughty tyrant, his demeanor and spirit having 

180 






THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 181 

changed with increase of power. Thenceforth, un- 
less relieved in some unexpected way, the poor 
debtor is as helpless to escape as the wounded, flut- 
tering bird to break the bars of its wiry cage. As 
there are no laws against usury, the lender takes 
what he can get, and he gets to the fullest extent 
of the debtor's capacity to pay, which is seldom ever 
as great as his promise to pay. The non-payment in 
part does not at all embarrass the creditor, for he had 
rightfully calculated that there would be something 
wanting, and upon this default he grounds other 
exactions. In this way he winds around and 
around his victim his ingenious net-work, and 
makes secure the fastenings for his life. He is now 
a serf and his wife and children slaves. So far as 
an emotion of pity is concerned for the helpless 
ones, you might as soon expect the hawk to release 
the frightened dove, or the wolf, the trembling 
lamb. He has them, and holds them, and leaves 
them to his equally cruel-hearted descendants. 

Should you owe one of these Mexican creditors, 
the bee is a poor symbol of industry compared with 
him in his timely and untimely efforts to collect 
it. He consults the proprieties of no time, place or 
occasion to urge his importunate demands. To col- 
lect his money, his bond, he would not have hesi- 
tated, like Shylock, about the pound of flesh, but 
" would have taken the risk in the home office," his 
excessive cupidity with him outweighing the prob- 



182 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

able death of the debtor. This creditor acts as if 
he had received the same injunction the father in 
Horace gave his son when he said : " My son, make 
money honestly if you can, but if not honestly, 
then I say to you, my son, make money." We 
may here pause long enough to remark that this 
is nowadays too much the case, outside as well as 
inside of Mexico. 

But returning to my theme, should one be so 
unfortunate as to have several creditors then, he 
can truly enter into and catch the spirit of the or- 
ator when he exclaimed : " Hard, hard, indeed, 
was the contest for freedom and the struggle for 
independence." No relation of circumstances, 
however reasonably calculated to induce forbear- 
ance will abate their efforts, and these soon become 
annoyances, and these in turn often repeated are 
aggravated into persecution. The Mexican credi- 
tor never " lets up ;" he is ever in the pursuit, how- 
ever hopeless may be the effort to secure possession. 
If the poor debtor falls a martyr to his ruthless 
attentions and falls into the grave as a refuge at 
last, the creditor condemns him for this dernier re- 
sort, and in his disappointed wrath now turns upon 
the unfortunate widow and hounds her remorse- 
lessly to the verge of despair. He is unfeeling as 
an Apache butcher. Payment or death are the 
only alternatives of relief. His soul-absorbing 
thought is money, how to get it, and how to keep 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 183 

it, whether by fair means or foul. Certainly the 
love of money is the root of all evil. Its inordi- 
nate love is soul-killing, drying up all the noble 
parts, and leaving all the evil ones to flourish in 
their rank, wicked luxuriance. The truthfulness 
of this is fully exemplified in the case of these 
Mexican creditors of whom we are now writing. 
Seeing their persecutions, their crystallized mean- 
ness, I have often thought, and I speak without 
irreverence, had these Mexicans existed at the time 
of the exodus of Israel, the Almighty would have 
withheld them, and sent in their stead the flies, lice, 
frogs and serpents upon Egypt in tender mercy to 
a rebellious race ! Now, I think I may truthfully 
affirm that history fails to record the life of a more 
heartless, conscienceless gang than the subjects of 
this sketch. Were I called upon to write their 
epitaphs historic truth should speak in marble. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

LARGE LANDED ESTATES. — POLICY AS TO THESE.- 
TRANSFER OF PROPERTY. — TAX GATHERERS. 

We now pass on to other themes. The large 
landed estates deserve particular mention. It is 
sometimes the case that one man may own land 
extending in a body for more than fifty miles. 
Especially is this the case in the mountains. He 
can afford to do so, as he pays no taxes upon these 
vast possessions. These are practically exempt 
from the burdens of government, which must fall 
upon personalty, merchandise and other things. 
In thus being relieved of the weight of taxation, 
he can afford to keep his large estates from the 
market and collect from his numerous tenants the 
means of livelihood. This policy of the govern- 
ment is certainly a mistaken one, for it fosters a 
class of men who, for the most part, are unworthy 
of such a special privilege, and this to the detri- 
ment of the well-being of a large body of citizens. 
It prevents the settlement, the growth of the prog- 
ress of the State socially, in wealth and political 
advancement. The axiom is, that "population is 
184 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 186 

power," but population will not increase under 
such discouragements, such forbidding circum- 
stances. The consequence is that immense tracts 
of territory, as is often the case, are but sparsely 
inhabited, leaving untouched some of the fairest 
fields for the industry and enterprise of man. 
Were the lands subject to taxation the consequence 
would be that they would soon be thrown upon the 
market and bought in by numerous parties, who 
would cultivate those which were tillable and be- 
come a source of considerable revenue to the gov- 
ernment. Beside the parties purchasing feeling 
then a greater interest in the welfare of the coun- 
try would become better citizens. The policy would 
also lighten the grievous taxation upon those articles 
which are now so heavily oppressed as almost to 
amount to confiscation. While these changes have 
been agitated to some extent, yet, up to this time, the 
agitation has only served to awaken some thought 
upon the subject, but no legislation has been had look- 
ing to a correction of the evil. It would break up, 
too, in the course of time that system of peonage 
of which we have already spoken. The poor ill- 
used tenants, or some of them, would probably be- 
come small landed proprietors and set up small 
establishments of their own. If anything like a 
moderate tax were imposed upon these lands by 
the government, the present sources of revenue to 
the owner are so limited that they could not hold 



186 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

them, and they must revert to the government un- 
less privately disposed of. It is a vicious system 
as it now exists, but time, better financiering, better 
statesmanship, in the near future will supersede it 
by reform legislation, more in accord with the pub- 
lic requirements and the spirit of the age. This 
land question is becoming more, from year to year, 
not only in our own country but in other sections, 
a vital one. Mexico, too, is not now oblivious to 
it importance, but has begun to study the matter of 
late years preparatory to legislative changes in the 
future. Some of the large tracts are already 
changing proprietors, bought Up generally by 
American, English, French, German and Scotch 
syndicates. This is more particularly the case in 
the northern part of Chihuahua, the States of Sina- 
loa and Coahuila. Many millions of acres within 
the last two years have changed titles, and the sales 
instead of diminishing are steadily on the increase. 
The sections mentioned offer the finest inducements 
to the capitalist, where investments are almost certain 
to meet with ready returns. These sections, for 
the most part, are abundantly supplied with water 
and the finest pasturage, and the seasons are so 
mild that there is no risk to the stock grower, 
where animals unsheltered may run the entire win- 
ter without injury. What political changes may 
be wrought by these inflowing colonists is a prob- 
lem for state-craft to anticipate. But these subdi- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 187 

visions of territory result in an increase of popula- 
tion, and this increase is encouraged by the present 
administration, at least by colonization, and invita- 
tion to capital with guaranties of protection. It 
may be that these large estate holders may be in- 
duced by the tempting offers of capital to break in 
sections their domains, ere the government by legis- 
lation has compelled them to do so. It is certainly 
a singular policy of the Mexican Government to 
exempt from taxation these lands, so far as I now re- 
member, without a precedent in other countries. At 
this time it may be well to remark that as to taxable 
properties, these can not be transferred until all taxes 
upon the same have been paid. Until the condi- 
tion is complied with the proper officials wiH not 
give their necessary services, nor will the convey- 
ances be received into the custody of the public 
registry. This is a most effective mode for the col- 
lection of the public revenue, and if it were 
adopted in other States, they might then say to 
that supplemental officer, known as "Back Tax 
Collector," henceforth "Be no longer officer of 
mine," for like Othello, his occupation would be 
gone. 

But enough has been said in reference to these 
large land owners, and the non-taxation of their 
estates, and the viciousness of such a governmental 
policy, and also some suggestions made, that if a 
change were adopted it would increase the public 



188 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

exchequer, and promote the general welfare, and 
by an easy transition we now approach the real 
subjects of taxation and the character of their im- 
ports. 

It may almost be truthfully affirmed that nothing 
escapes the vigilance of the tax gatherer- — and these 
individuals carry with them the same popularity 
here that the publicans did during the reign of the 
Csesars in the land of Judea, or the rent collector 
among the Irish tenantry of to-day. These taxes, 
under one designation or other, are classified as 
government, State or municipal. Each make their 
levies, and when each shall have been satisfied it 
leaves the owner in a very unsatisfied frame of 
mind, for he feels as if he were paying the price of 
robbery for protection. Taxation is always unpop- 
ular, and not less so here than elsewhere. Men 
dislike to yield what is in sight for a theoretical 
protection which is too often all they get. They 
prefer retaining what they have and taking their 
chances with the multitude as to losses, or, as is 
often the case, they selfishly prefer that if taxes 
must be paid then let the "other fellows pay 
them." They can stand the imposition upon others 
much better than when placed upon themselves. 
It is rarely in a group of wealthy old citizens the 
subject of taxation is not freely discussed, now and 
then, by some of their number, the conversation 
being interlarded with denunciatory expletives, 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 189 

condemning in the strongest terms the taxation 
policy of government, State and municipality. 
They cry out that the burdens are more than they 
can bear, and that business and property, though 
flourishing as never before, are taking to themselves 
the wings of the morning. That Mexico has her 
croakers, too, is only natural to suppose, and goes 
to prove that this sentiment of aversion to the 
revenue collector is deeply implanted in the human 
heart. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

DUTIES. — SMUGGLERS. — INCIDENT. — IMPORTS. — 
STAMP DUTIES. — STATE TAXES. — MUNICIPAL 
TAXATION. 



The chief revenues of the government are de- 
rived from importation duties. These, in many 
instances, are so enormously high as to fall little 
short of prohibition. The article of ready-made 
clothing, to illustrate, pays one huudred and thirty- 
two per cent ! So excessive are these duties upon 
fabrics, as a class, that the art of smuggling along 
the border is greatly practiced, and nothing but the 
greatest watchfulness upon the part of the govern- 
ment keeps it within moderate bounds. These 
smugglers are well armed and organized, know 
well along the line the places of rendezvous, and 
are well prepared, in case of pursuit, either for 
flight or fight. If too closely pressed and out- 
numbered, they can well afford to abandon one 
train, if they can escape with two, for then their 
great profits will more than compensate them for 
the loss of the one. Were the taxes les$, the 
temptation to smuggling would be also correspond- 
190 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 191 

ingly decreased. But high taxation stimulates the 
illegal traffic. There is such a thing as killing the 
goose that lays the golden eggs, and there is also 
such a thing as making taxation so grievous as to 
defeat the ends sought to be attained. Upon this 
subject Mexico has much to learn, as well as it 
would seem, her northern sister republic. The 
chases after these smuggling bands are at times 
very exciting, ending frequently in conflicts and in 
the loss of many lives. When captured everything 
is confiscated, and the offenders subjected to the 
severest penalties. There are but few merchants 
who do not sympathize with the smugglers in their 
contraband trade, and are willing to take great 
risks if they can only come into possession of these 
goods, out of which they realize enormous profits. 
The banks of the Rio Grande have been the theater 
of many daring exploits, many fights, captures, 
and escapes. But of late, so vigilant have been 
the officers of the government, that the traffic has 
greatly diminished. This, however, may in part be 
due to a reduction of duties upon articles imported, 
thus lessening the profits upon the contraband 
articles. I can not here undertake an enumeration 
of the articles imported and the duties imposed 
upon the different classes of articles ; it would be 
unnecessarily tedious and tiresome to the general 
reader. These taxes are often imposed not only as 
a source of revenue, but also as a matter of pro- 



192 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

tection to their own " infant industries,' ' which 
they are seeking to foster and build up. The min- 
ing industry receives the especial favor of the gov- 
ernment, and to stimulate this as much as possible 
many of the articles needed are relieved from im- 
portation duties. Mining machinery, steel and 
quicksilver, fall within this category. Medicines, 
as a class, are heavily taxed. Articles of luxury 
share the same fate, which is nothing but proper 
rather than the necessaries of life. Cooking stoves 
pay import duties equal or exceeding in amount 
the prime cost of these artices. Flour is heavily 
burdened, I presume, to protect and encourage the 
native production. 

Speaking of stoves, I can not forbear the recital 
of a little incident which occurred only a short 
distance from this point in the household of one of 
the best families in the mountains. The lady of 
the house had at last come into possession of an 
American stove, costing, too, a good round sum, 
but abandoned it after a few days' trial, alleging 
that she did not want it any longer, as it brought 
and bred roaches in the house ! And no amount of 
persuasion could induce her to reconsider her reso- 
lution, and the innocent stove was expelled from 
the house as a guilty culprit. But this only shows 
some of the vagaries of the mountain Senora. To 
prevent the avoidance of these duties the goods are 
sometimes examined by a series of custom-house 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 193 

officials at different points in the interior along the 
line of their transit. And even irregularities are 
taxed with heavy fines, these being paid to the vig- 
ilant official in part as a reward for his efficiency. 
Being paid out of the fine, induces them to search 
for the most trivial irregularities, and to inflict 
upon the well-intentioned importer vexatious an- 
noyances and unjust fines. It former times these 
custom-house incumbents have been guilty of the 
most flagrant corruption. A vessel freighted with 
a cargo of assorted merchandise, for instance, 
would stand out to sea, and would not put into 
port until an interview had been held with the 
proper parties on shore, and unless a satisfactory 
bargain could be made the captain would set sail 
for some other port with more accommodating 
custom-house officials. Of course the government 
with such representatives could not hope to collect 
legitimate charges, but these appointees gave to the 
principal only so much as they felt inclined. For 
the one who will deliberately cheat only lacks the 
necessary opportunity to deliberately steal. But 
this old time practice has been superseded by the 
introduction of a more efficient service from which 
the government derives its proper revenues in a 
reasonably honest and satisfactory manner. Ex- 
aminers make inspection tours, to look into and re- 
port as to the conduct of their custom officials and 
to keep them in remembrance of the fact, that they 
13 



194 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

are under the constant supervision of the depart- 
ment at the capital. 

Upon the whole, I may here remark that the 
tendency of federal legislation is to lower the im- 
port duties, and this policy receives the sanction of 
some of the ablest men in the nation. Mexico is 
in no condition for free trade and she must raise 
her revenues in a great measure from the sources 
indicated. Yet the burden might be more equita- 
bly distributed by heavier imposts upon articles 
now lightly charged, or new imposts upon articles 
now wholly free. But time, experience and the 
observation of the practical workings of the pres- 
ent system may ultimately suggest its own correct- 
ive, which its leaders, it is hoped, will have the 
courage to apply. 

There is scarcely anything exempt from stamp 
duties. I have seen these stamps affixed to each 
separate piece of shelf goods offered in the stores 
for sale. All kinds of bales, packages and bundles 
must receive them before they can be exposed for 
sale and for a non-compliance with which the sever- 
est penalties follow. All kinds of transfers, con- 
veyances, invoices, acknowledgments, receipts are 
invalid unless properly stamped. 

These stamp duties are in many instances exces- 
sively high, graduated according to the value of 
the subject matter, a promissory note for five thou- 
sand dollars requiring stamps to the value of one 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 195 

hundred dollars! I have thought that this class of 
taxation indicated the distress of the government, 
and was resorted to only in times of great financial 
stringency. But upon more mature reflection I am 
not so sure but that it is a means of raising money 
less felt than when directly imposed. 

The States, too, are grievously exacting in the 
extent of their tax demands. Doubtless, much of 
this is to be attributed to ill-advised taxation, mal- 
versation in office, misapplication of the public 
funds. While commerce between the States is, un- 
der the Federal constitution, exempt from State 
taxation, yet it is notoriously true that the States, 
or many of them, act in open violation of its plain 
provisions, and so far, it seems, the central govern- 
ment has either been too weak or too indifferent to 
correct the abuse. 

The municipalities come in lastly for their share, 
and by this time the taxpayer is glad that his life 
is spared and that he is permitted to go hence with 
the blessings of the revenue collector upon his 
head. The poor man can not bring a little corn to 
town without he and his cargoes are escorted to the 
office of the collector and taxes paid upon the same 
before he can sell it to buy some needed supplies. 
One can not kill a beef without paying tribute to 
the municipality. There is nothing brought to the 
village for sale but must give up a part for the 
privilege of selling the remainder. Producers 



196 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

labor under the greatest discouragements, for they 
feel as if they labor in vain, so heavily oppressed 
are they with these iniquitous taxes. The reason 
assigned for these exactions is that the city officials 
must be paid and the prisoners in jail supported. 
Misgovernment is the real ground for such unjust 
proceedings. And as an instance of how they 
manage these municipal affairs, murderers, prison- 
ers, may sometimes be seen guarding in the streets 
some unfortunate drunken wretch. The murderer, 
then a prisoner himself, the rapist, keeping watch 
over the helpless sot ! And this is the kind of a 
municipal government which levies exorbitant 
taxes upon those who would furnish bread and 
meat to the half-famished population ! 

These remarks give but a feeble description of 
the actual hardships undergone by the poor tax- 
payer, for he is a veritable hewer of wood and 
drawer of water for those in position who squander 
in maladministration his hard-earned dollars. 
While this is the case to some extent in other parts, 
yet it probably prevails here to a more alarming 
extent than elsewhere. The average Mexican official 
does not regard a public office as a public trust, but as 
private property for the time of his incumbency, 
and to be used for his own aggrandizement. He sel- 
dom goes out as poor as when he went in, however 
meagre may be the salary, for somehow or other 
what this lacks in quantity, he manages so to mul- 






THti MOUNTAINS OP MEXICO. 197 

tiply the perquisites, legitimate or illegitimate, as 
to be numbered among the grandees of the land. 
One can hardly imagine a more corrupt set of 
officials than the ordinary municipal ones existing 
in this country. The Tweed regime was more bril- 
liant, for it had more brains, and more money was 
at stake ; but for inward rottenness and unblushing 
debauchery, it could not exceed some of these 
Mexican municipal dynasties. If articles are in 
transit from one State to another, and they should 
pass through one of these villages, the petty offi- 
cials pounce upon them for their contributions, as 
they are called, like the eagle upon its prey. If 
they were organized to cripple trade and impede 
commercial relations generally, they could not have 
devised more efficient measures to that end. 



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CHAPTER XXIX. 

RESOURCES. — POPULATION. — 1 GRICULTURAL PRO- 
DUCTS. — MINES. — MEXICANS AS BUSINESS MEN. 
— SECURITY OF LIFE AND PROPERTY. — FOR- 
EIGNERS MISTREATED. 

While our observations have more particular 
reference to these mountain districts, and while 
some casual references have already been made to 
the resources of Mexico, yet I now deem it a mat- 
ter of entertainment, if not of instruction to the 
uninformed, to speak a little more at length as to 
general resources of Mexico. Manufactories are 
now being established in the greater number of the 
States of cotton, silk, woolen, paper, glass, earthen- 
ware and shoes, which will give an increased im- 
petus to the well-being of the country. The pres- 
ent population of the republic does not exceed ten 
or twelve millions at the most. It is said, were all 
its territory populated as thickly as Guanajato the 
census returns would show nearly sixty millions of 
people. But immense tracts of territory, in con- 
sequence of a scarcity of fuel and water, are but 
sparsely inhabited. The value of the real estate 
198 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 199 

will approximate $400,000,000. Corn is grown in 
every section, wheat in the table- lands, rice along 
the river and coasts in the hot sections; in these 
also are raised coffee, tobacco, vanilla, sugar and 
cotton, all of which, superadded to the tropical 
fruits and other products, will aggregate, I should 
think, much more in value than $100,000,000. If 
the available soil of the country could be utilized 
by an active, thrifty and intelligent population the 
benefits which would flow to the country would be 
incalculable. In this estimate I have not even ad- 
verted to her immense mineral deposits of almost 
endless variety, which have excited the wonder of 
the mineralogist, and the history of which to-day 
reads like the creation of vivid fiction. Almost 
unworked are her mines of copper, iron, zinc, lead, 
magistral, antimony, arsenic, cobalt, copperas, salt 
and sulphur. There also exists alabaster, some 
coal, marble, white and colored, carbonate of soda, 
many precious stones, such as opal, topaz, agate, 
amethyst and garnet. The quicksilver mines are 
also now coming into prominence and adding to 
the national wealth. It is impossible to tell accu- 
rately the product of her mines, for this reason, 
that the laws originally required that all bullion 
should be sent to the city of Mexico to be coined, 
and the transportation being so high from the great- 
ness of the distance the result was the product of 
the mines in the border States never went through 



200 THE MOUNTAINS OP MEXICO. 

the mint at the capital, but was smuggled out of 
the county, leaving no record of its value. But 
sufficient reliable data exists to show that more 
than three billions of dollars, gold and silver, have 
been produced. 

The possibilities of such a country, with such a 
climate, such a soil, such unexhausted mineral re- 
sources, with a population revitalized, can not be 
overestimated, cau not be prophecied. This, of 
course, presupposes the existence of a popular gov- 
ernment, with all the civil blessings which flow 
from such a benign institution. Mexico, too, is the 
bridge between the continents. The far East and 
the far West must cross her territory as a highway, 
to be brought into neighborly intercourse. The 
Interoceanic Canal, inspired by the genius of 
the great Frenchman, is within her borders, 
and to her, from, its smitten rocks, " abundant 
streams of revenue will gush forth " when com- 
pleted. 

I have given but an inkling of her resources, 
and cannot pass further into details, to weary you 
with statistical information and tabulated state- 
ments. These may be learned from the official 
reports on file in the different departments, but the 
details here would only tend to encumber this vol- 
ume contrary to its design. 

Leaving now this interesting theme, the re- 
sources of Mexico, we pass to the consideration of 



THE MOUNT Aim OP MEXICO. 201 

some popular ideas entertained abroad as to this 
country, and some of which I can not more truth- 
fully describe than by characterizing them as popu- 
lar delusions. I speak now in reference to Mex- 
icans generally, and do not limit my remarks as 
heretofore to those isolated sections outside of the 
centers of trade and travel. One idea seems to 
obtain that the Mexicans are a low kind of people, 
easily imposed upon, deficient in knowledge and 
business abilities. This is an old civilization, well- 
informed in the centers of population and the marts 
of trade, and eminently conservative in its modes 
of business. They proceed cautiously, take but 
few risks, calculate closely, and consequently are 
seldom overtaken by " the flings of outrageous for- 
tune." The firms of other nationalities go to 
pieces in this country, but exceedingly rarely do the 
financial storms overwhelm the natives, those " to 
the manner born." The speculation craze in 
stocks, gambling on margins, comparatively speak- 
ing, secure but little favor, while legitimate busi- 
ness is pursued in such a conservative manner that 
it seldom fails to reap its legitimate fruits. I pre- 
sume that there are no safer houses in the world 
than some of these old Mexican firms. Some of 
them have been in existence more than a century 
and have remained unshaken in their solvency 
during all the revolutionary times through which 
they have passed. 



202 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 



This is strange, but speaks volumes to their 
credit, to the preeminent ability with which they have 
been managed. Integrity, intelligence, activity, 
vigilance must have been the foundation on which 
such a permanent structure was reared. Of course 
the original members of the firm had long since 
died, but the business went on the same, often in 
the name of the original firm ; and often in the 
name of successors. And thus, through successive 
generations, the house has stood, even growing in 
influence and strength as it grew in years. I would 
accordingly dissipate that fallacy that they are lim- 
ited in their business capacities, if an unbroken suc- 
cess is to be the criterion of such things. I am 
now speaking of the best class of business men, 
those who are an honor and ornament to the voca- 
tion which they follow, and not of these sharks 
which shoal in shallow waters and prey on all that 
comes within their reach. These exist unfortu- 
nately everywhere, but by such standards we should 
not judge the others. 

Another idea obtains abroad that nowhere do the 
laws give adequate protection to property and life. 
It must be confessed that in certain localities the 
laws, while good enough in themselves, in their 
spirit and scope, can not enforce themselves, and the 
officials charged with that duty are neglectful, in- 
different, timid ; in a word, absolutely worthless, 
and for this reason property and life have not the 



TBE MOUNTAINS OP MEXICO. 203 

safeguards of the law. This Is especially so 
in the mountains, and in some other sections, 
but it is not generally the case; but with the 
exceptions named the reverse is true, and prop- 
erty and life are generally secure. I think 
it can be said as much so in the main as in 
other countries. Of course there are some indi- 
vidual hardships, but these happen everywhere, 
and are departures from the law, and not in ac- 
cordance with it. I believe the general sentiment 
of the better class is the enforcement of law 
and the dispensation of justice through the regular 
constituted tribunals. Mexico, like the United 
States, has her wild, thinly settled sections, where, 
at times, the lawless element are in the ascendant, 
and where terrorism reigns to the insecurity ot 
property and life. The authorities are weak, and 
the law-breakers set them at defiance, and pretty 
much have their own way. But in view of her 
past history, her numerous revolutions instigated 
by ambitious leaders, the disturbing elements which 
have been present in her society, I can but think 
that a greater respect is being cultivated for law 
and order, and that these, at no very distant day, 
will rightfully assert their proper places in the 
government of the republic. 

There is another idea which prevails: that trav- 
eling in Mexico is unusually dangerous, and that 
it is necessary to insure safety to have a strong 



204 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

escort. This, too, I believe is a delusion, for I 
apprehend that upon the public thoroughfares trav- 
eling in stages or upon the railroads is attended 
with as little danger as anywhere. In fact, as al- 
ready stated, the punishment of the offender for 
making an assault when so traveling, or otherwise 
traveling upon a public road, is death, the penalty 
to be inflicted within a few days at that by the 
official living nearest the place of the assault. He 
may be some petty officer, not more important than 
a justice of the peace in the United States, yet to 
suppress such villainies is invested with such ex- 
traordinary power. 

But in speaking of the enforcement of the law 
in this country, I omitted to say that formerly the 
administration was much more lax than at this 
time. Foreigners coming to this country, too, 
were sometimes thrown into prison, and lingered 
there for an indefinite time for some alleged viola- 
tion of law, upon some suspicion, or upon the accu- 
sation of some irresponsible nobody. Often these 
foreigners deserved punishment, for if a nationality is 
be judged by the character of some of its tramps pass- 
ing through the country, then such a nation deserves 
commiseration. In the abstract and concrete there 
does not exist a more trifling gang of vagabonds. 
But now and then it so happened that good men as 
well as bad men were cast into prison, and re- 
mained there for a long period of time without a 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. '205 

hearing. This was wrong, for the accused, be he 
ever so vile, is entitled to a speedy trial, that he 
may be punished if guilty, and discharged if inno- 
cent. In civilized countries the meanest criminals 
are entitled at least to this right and privilege. A 
Mexican prison, with its filth and vermin, is a min- 
ature reproduction of the blackhole of Calcutta. 
Americans, probably more than all others, were in- 
carcerated in these prisons. For many months, 
and I am told sometimes for years, they languished 
in imprisonment without a sentence, without even 
a trial. Appeal after appeal, remonstrance after 
remonstrance, went up to the representative of the 
American government, and after so long a time 
they came back through red tape channels, asking 
this or that, but bringing no relief to the impris- 
oned sufferer. Of course the customary diplomatic 
correspondence would take place sometimes, volu- 
minous, but this generally ended in nothing, for 
the Mexican minister is generally an official of su- 
perior address, great courtesy, with the gift of pro- 
crastinating anything, thus wearing out the pa- 
tience and life of the complainant ; and, moreover, 
he can be easily furnished from his own country 
with the exparte statement of others, that it is an act 
of mercy to the complainant, though innocent in fact, 
that he is permitted to live even in a Mexican 
prison. 

The explanation is satisfactory, the American 



206 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

representative now assuming to be as courteous as 
the Mexican, half apologetically retires and leaves 
his countryman severely alone in his dungeon, the 
curtain descends, and his government's last official 
act in the drama is ended, and death or deliverance 
from some other source must force his prison bars. 
Unfortunately for the reputation of our country 
this is no mere ideal sketch, but can be vouched 
for by many American residents. They hardly now 
expect any kind of redress from the American 
government, whatever may have been the wrongs 
they have suffered. At least without referring 
to the present administration, such supineness 
on the part of former ones has been displayed 
as only to make one feel that "hope deferred 
maketh the heart sick. ,, In this respect the pol- 
icy of our government, among the American 
residents, has been a by-word and reproach. 
Relief asked, and to which he is entitled, if our 
representatives were not hoodwinked, seldom 
gets beyond the high-sounding correspondence, 
however meritorious the application. Somehow 
or other the Mexican blarney, with his " mailana "* 
manceuvers, outwits the American man, gains his 
point, in fact, "takes all the tricks." In the 
meantime the American official felicitates him- 
self upon the fact that by his brilliant diplomacy 

* Pronounced Manyanna. 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 207 

he has cut the knot of a threatened complication, 
preserved the national honor and the friendliest 
international relations. But the wronged Amer- 
ican sojourns in prison still. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OUR GOVERNMENT AND 
ENGLAND AND GERMANY AS TO THEIR SUBJECTS 
ABROAD. — INCIDENTS. — TRAVELING IN THE 
MOUNTAINS. 

The English and German governments, to their 
credit be it spoken, immediately upon information 
being furnished them that some subject of their 
country is under arrest or in prison in Mexico at 
once investigate the matter and take steps that he 
shall either have a trial or be discharged. They 
do n't permit their subjects to lie in prison for 
months, but demand for them a hearing at the short- 
est notice. The contrast between their action and 
that of the United States is, not only striking but 
humiliating, to say the least of it, exhibiting an 
indifferentism misbecoming a great power. 

Some years since, I learn, an Englishman was 
arrested and held in imprisonment for some time 
in Guymas on the Gulf of California. He had no 
trial. The captain of an English man-of-war heard 
of it, and he moved his vessel up in front of the 
town, communicated with the authorities and laid 
208 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 209 

down his ultimatum, that if that man was not tried or 
discharged within so many hours he would bombard 
the place. The Englishman was discharged, it is 
needless to say. A similar case also occurred in 
the city of Mazatlan, some years since, when the 
captain of a man-of-war came to the relief of his 
countryman, as it was his duty to have done. The 
same result followed his demand. Germany, I be- 
lieve, proceeds in the same way. " Short settle- 
ments make long friends." When rightly viewed, 
it is no little matter, wrongfully, to imprison the 
subjects of a foreign power. The honor, the whole 
force of their governments, are pledged to their 
protection, and in doing this, vindicating the na- 
tional escutcheon, the majesty of the nation. In- 
jure a British subject abroad, and the British Em- 
pire, feeling the wrong, is moved to action, and it 
unredressed 'tis then " her morning drum-beats 
may be heard around the world." In the rights of 
the subject are wrapped up the rights and honor 
and good faith of the nation. 

Now each nation has a right to live, to protect 
itself against the machinations of crazy madcaps, 
filibustering expeditions which, for the time, go to 
unsettle the peace of the country and threaten, by 
an alliance with malcontents, the integrity of the 
existing government. When such men are caught 
they should receive a punishment, and this promptly, 
commensurate with the gravity of the offense. The 

14 



210 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

ineursionists deserve no better fortune than an aban- 
donment to the fate which their misconduct has 
induced. So it is not with reference to this class 
of malefactors that the foregoing remarks are per- 
tinent, criticising the action of our government to- 
wards its citizens when imprisoned abroad. But 
as to this matter it is sincerely to be hoped that an 
era of reform has been inaugurated, and that now no 
steps wili be taken backward. Let us, at all events, 
place ourselves abreast with the nations referred 
to, Germany and England, and see that our citizens 
in the maintenance of their rights are not neg- 
lected. 

It sometimes happens that American citizens are 
wronged in some locality remote from an American 
representative and they are held in durance vile 
without the knowledge of the Minister or Consul. 
Then, again, there are others of these officials who 
scarcely know what steps to take in the matter. 
They exhaust themselves in profitless correspond- 
ence. The truth is, I do not think that our 
foreign representatives compare very favorably 
with those of other first-class powers. They are 
not, as is the case with some other nations, brought 
up in a diplomatic school, but untrained politicians 
thrown to the surface by a change in the adminis- 
tration. And so frequent are the changes that the 
incumbent holds his office by such a slight tenure 
that he scarcely has time and inclination to prepare 






THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 211 

himself for the place before, it may be, he confronts 
his successor, properly accredited to relieve him of 
his charge. To insure efficiency, the service by all 
means should be more permanent, not so shifting, 
and a compensation adequate to the dignity and re- 
quirements of the position should be awarded to 
him by a nation with an overflowing treasury, 
thus, too, inducing the most capable men to fill 
these responsible places. 

I have said this much in reference to the changes 
in our Ministers and Consuls in foreign countries, 
following the changes in the administration^ for 
it seemed naturally to rise up out of the plan of 
the subject I was discussing. 

Now, retracing somewhat our steps, we will 
make some further remarks as to traveling in this 
country, as to which many feel a lively interest. 
My former remarks as to the comparative safety 
of traveling here and in other countries, were not 
intended to include the mountains. There is 
always more or less danger in passing over these. 
The lurking-places are so numerous, the places of 
retreat also, that one must be ever vigilant, al- 
ways on the alert. A set of barbarians live in 
these rocky fastnesses, and, living by plunder, al- 
though having some ostensible means of honest 
livelihood, are always on the watch to surprise and 
rob the unwary travelers when suspected of having 
valuables, and not well attended. I have had some 



212 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

experience with these mountain robbers and a nar- 
ration of the incident might serve to diversify these 
pages ; and if this is done I am sure I will earn 
the thanks of my readers. Of this, in my next 
chapter, I will speak. 



i 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

AMBUSCADED BY ROBBERS. — CAPTURED. — TIED 
DOWN. — ROBBED. — ESCAPED. — OBSERVA- 
TIONS. 

On the morning of the 6th of December, 1885, 
I left the village of Guadalupe y Calvo, for the 
city of Parral, some one hundred and eighty miles 
distant. Alter an absence of more than two years 
I had started home to see my wife and children in 
the State of Tennessee. I expected to make Par- 
ral in five days, there take the stage some sixty 
miles to Jimenez on the Mexican Central Railroad, 
thence for El Paso, and thence to Memphis, Tenn., 
and be with my family during the Christmas holi- 
days. 

After such a long absence my heart was bound- 
ing with joy in anticipation of seeing so soon 
my loved ones once more. It was a bright, cold 
morning, but all was warm within, nature — every- 
thing seemed to give auspicious omen for the jour- 
ney. The carols of the few songsters heard made 
musical the mountain path, and my trusted mule 
went on his way up and down the rugged moun- 

213 



214 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

tains as if he knew the mission, and shared the joy 
of his rider. I had two mozos (servants) with me, 
selected by reason of their supposed fitness for such 
a journey, with a thorough knowledge of camp life 
and familiarity with the trail. We had two pack 
mules and two riding animals, and each of us was 
well armed. One of the pack' mules was loaded 
with two bars of bullion, weighing about one hun- 
dred and fifty-five pounds and valued at near five 
thousand five hundred dollars. These, for special 
reasons, I desired to take with me to Parral, and 
tliere leave them. I did not apprehend any par- 
ticular danger, except I thought it probable I 
might be intercepted by some straggling members 
of a mountain raiding party, which but a short 
time before had been broken and scattered in frag- 
ments. In fact, a few of these had been seen only 
a few days before near the village from whence I 
started. As to these I had resolved to take my 
chances and go through, if possible. For several 
days we journeyed on very well, meeting only one 
or two persons, Mexicans, but feeling better and 
better as I drew each day nearer my destination. 
The nights were quite cold, sleeping on the bare 
ground, the stars shone to me as if in ineffable 
beauty, and the glad waters went by and soothed 
me with their musical numbers into tranquil sleep, 
the sweet sleep of the weary and hopeful. In 
times like these dreamland is peopled with the pur- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 215 

est and best. On the night of the fourth day we 
camped near a small stream, about forty -five miles 
from Parral, determined to reach that point the 
next day. So far we had proceeded uninter- 
ruptedly, and our trip up to that time had been a 
pronounced success. The next morning we had 
a big frost, but started about six o'clock. Our 
trail ran over some high narrow mountains, with 
many sudden ascents and declivities. So winding, 
too, was the road that your companion, only fifty 
feet in your rear, in some places, could not see you. 
It was a lonely, desolate, uninhabited region, of all 
others the most suitable for the lair of the robber 
and the sally of the murderer. We had been on 
the road probably an hour, and I was in advance 
of my servants, who were with the pack animals 
some fifty or seventy-five steps in the rear. Just 
at this time I was out of sight of my servants by 
reason of a quick turn and sudden descent in the 
road, but passing along unconscious of any danger 
near me. Nor did my riding mule give any signal 
of danger, contrary to the custom of that animal, 
when such is at hand. But so it was riding along 
slowly that my companion might catch up, and un- 
warned, with head cast down in a meditative mood, 
I was suddenly confronted by two robbers at a 
sharp angle in the road, immediately in my front, 
within a few feet of me, the one a little to the 
right and the other to the left, and each with his 



216 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

rifle leveled on me. The sound of their voices, I 
think, had broken my reverie, and I beheld them 
for the first time in the position described. Speak- 
ing in Mexican, they advanced the few feet on me 
with rifles aimed, compelling me to dismount, and 
while one kept his gun against me the other took 
away my pistol. It was fortunate when they told 
me to surrender my arms I did not make an effort 
to deliver my weapons, for my action then might 
have been misconstrued as an attempt to defend 
myself, which would have cost me my life. I per- 
mitted them to find and take the pistol. Under 
the circumstances, to see such an apparition with 
disguised faces, as if painted devils had suddenly 
risen out of the earth, makes one of those thrilling 
episodes in life seldom seen, but never forgotten. 
They had blackened their facos for the occasion, 
and this intensified the chill of horror, for the rec- 
ollection for many nights afterwards of the vision, 
when first presented, started the half-sleeping, half- 
wakeful shudders. I saw at a glance that resist- 
ance was vain and that I had better take the risk 
for the time, and watch for a better opportunity, 
and the sequel fully justified the wisdom of this 
course. They immediately marched me back, with 
rifles in dangerous proximity to my head, to a point 
just below the crest of the hill down which I had just 
gone, and there made me lie down, as they did also, 
to await the arrival of my servants, coming up on 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 217 

ie opposite side. In a few minutes the heads of 
the animals could be seen coming where we were 
hidden, and in a few feet more my captors had their 
guns against the breasts of my surprised servants, 
reinforced by two other robbers, who rose up im- 
mediately in their rear, and whom I had passed 
unperceived, as they were hidden in the grass on 
the side of the path. Thus surprised and sur- 
rounded by four of the robbers they, too, offered 
no resistance, but were captured without even the 
firing of a gun. The field chosen, the plan of the 
attack and its admirable execution displayed no 
little generalship. Others circumstanced as I was, 
and as we were, might have acted differently, but 
the probabilities are, had they done so, they might 
not now, as I am doing, be writing recollections of 
this stirring incident. They at once tied our arms 
behind us and drove us before them away from the 
road a considerable distance down into a deep gorge 
along with the captured animals. When we had 
reached a certain flat spot on the side of the deep 
canyon the animals were stopped, and then they 
took us a little farther down towards the bottom of 
the canyon when they commanded us to lie down. 
When my mozos had done so, then they tied a 
strong rope around one of their legs, just above 
the ankle, and drew the leg up under them closely 
to the body and tied it to the rope with which the 
arms were tied. They then ordered me to lie 



218 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

down, and I was subjected to the same humiliating 
treatment. While this was being done, one was 
officiating while the others were present with arms 
ready to enforce obedience. When we were flat 
upon our backs, then one of them was stationed as 
a sentinel some thirty feet above us, near the spot 
where the animals were stopped, but in such a 
place as he could command us with his rifle. And 
so attentive was he that from time to time he would 
leave his place and come down and examine our 
fastenings to see that we were still secure. And 
then he was so solicitous about us, too, he would 
now aud then ask if we were still tied, and make 
other inquiries which I then thought were ill- 
timed. 

While he was filling the time with these " side- 
bar" remarks, I could distinctly hear him chewing 
away on some of my provisions they had captured, 
and this was not well calculated to favorably im- 
press me with the newcomer. While he was keep- 
ing watch, I could hear him talking with the 
others, or some of them, but these I could not see 
from the position I occupied. Every now and 
then he would retire for a few minutes beyond 
sight, hold a conference with some confederate and 
then return and take his accustomed place. Once 
or twice he came near where I was lying and asked 
one of my Mexican servants what old " gringo " 
I was. He held his gun about half raised toward 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 219 

me, as if in the act of firing. My servant com- 
menced begging for me in the most plaintive tones, 
and telling him I was on my way then to see my 
family, whom I had not seen for more than two 
years, going, as he expressed it, to my own land, 
and that I was u un muy buen hombrc" one very 
good man. From some unknown reason his counte- 
nance, with its mean scowl, relaxed as well as the 
hand upon his rifle, and he turned around and 
went back to his place as sentinel. Just at that 
time, when my servant was pleading for me with 
the wretch, and he looking as if in the act of firing 
upon me, my feelings can neither be imagined nor 
described. There tied down in the mountains, as 
helpless as an infant by a band of robbers, gave but 
little promise of a family reunion again. The 
happy anticipations of the few days past were lost 
in the sudden change of the situation. To all ap- 
pearance our fate was still unsettled in the hands of 
the villains. I asked in an undertone, as we were 
all three tied near each other, one of my servants, 
who had been saying his prayers and invoking his 
saints, what these fellows were going to do with us, 
but he, in a despairing tone and look, replied he 
did n't know. Now it is said that a man in the act 
of drowning has passed in review a panorama of 
his past life. I don't know how that is, but I am 
willing to indorse the couplet of the poetess when 
she says : 



220 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO, 

" There are moments, I think, when the spirit receives 
Whole volumes of thought on its unwritten leaves." 

When that rascal held that gun on me, as if 
about to fire, not only whole volumes, but a whole 
Alexandrian Library went through my mind ! I 
have faced death on many occasions, amid the clash 
of arms on the battlefield, in the pestilence, when 
the very air seemed laden with the missiles of the 
Great Archer, and against which there w T as no pro- 
tection, on the flying, disabled train, on ocean 
waters angered by the winds, but never before did 
death seem so near as on that December morning 
in the Sierra Madre. At best it is bad to die 
away from home, unsoothed by affection's voice, 
untended by affection's hand. But the thought was 
almost intolerable to be tied down and shot like a 
dog in the desert of the mountains, in one of the 
loneliest and most dismal spots, by a gang of des- 
perate, murderous ruffians. In that event there is 
hardly a probability that any tidings from that 
sequestered canyon w r ould have gone over the 
mountains to tell of the cruel fate of the harmless 
travelers. I presume w r e had been thus confined 
for nearly seven hours on our backs, our limbs 
swollen from the tightness of the cords, causing 
great pain, when one of my mozos said to me in a 
whisper, he thought he could untie himself. This 
w 7 as said during the temporary absence of the senti- 
nel. I replied to him, " Then do so immediately." 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 221 

He attempted it and succeeded, how, I am not able 
to tell, and then he untied the other mozo, and 
then the two jumped at me and untied me. While 
it occupied but a little time, yet I thought it took 
much more time than it did. We three then 
"sorter fell " down the side of that mountain to- 
wards its bottom, keeping between us and the posi- 
tion of the sentinel as many big rocks and other 
obstructions as we could, for we expected the crack 
of his rifle every moment. Whether he returned 
to look after his charge, I know not, but if he did 
we were beyond the reach of his aim, and with 
fleet feet hastening down and up the rough moun- 
tains. Stunted undergrowth grew in our course, 
and^thus furnished a friendly covert for the fugi- 
tives. In this way we made our escape, pronounced 
by Americans and Mexicans familiar with the 
habits of these robbers, to be the most marvelous 
one of which they have any knowledge. Their 
habit is to kill, for " dead men tell no tales. " But 
whether such was their ultimate purpose in our 
case, no one can ever tell. The truth is, I have 
now no curiosity on the subject, and felicitate my- 
self more upon my escape than I care to indulge 
in idle surmising as to what might have been my 
fate. Luckily they did not take from my person 
any of my clothing on that cold morning ; but we 
lost our animals, our bullion, our clothing, blank- 
ets, watch, some silver dollars — everything, in a 



222 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

word, and nothing has ever been recovered. It 
was a wholesale and retail robbery. I had in my 
possession a passport from the State Department at 
Washington, but these chevaliers did not then per- 
mit it to pass me. I had quite a nice collection of 
mementoes which were all lost. 

After our escape, in a few hours night came upon 
us, but we traveled on through brush and timber, 
and over the great boulders, going up and down 
the steep mountain sides in the direction of our 
destination. We walked and walked until a late 
hour away from the accustomed trail, for fear of 
being again intercepted by our captors. At last we 
came to a light near the path, having tramped that 
day, it is now learned, about twenty-five miles. To 
that light we turned our steps, and it proved to be 
some timbermen in camp for the night. With 
them we remained until morning, they giving us 
something to eat, for since early morning we had 
eaten nothing. Two days afterwards we reached 
Parral lame and weary to exhaustion — such was 
the pain and roughness of my tramp that two of 
the nails of my toes came out. 

The night after the day of our robbery one of 
my mozos went on to Parral with information to 
the authorities there of the robbery, and with a 
request than an expedition would immediately be 
sent out after the robbers. The prefect replied 
he had none to send. After my arrival, however, 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 223 

he did send out some policemen, I paying their 
salary in the meantime ; hut these found neither 
thieves nor property, which is sometimes the case 
with policemen, as you may know. It is but proper 
to saj that the Prefect of Parral sent my exhausted 
mozo on as a messenger to the chief authority of 
the canton, some fifty miles or more, from where the 
offense was committed, with instructions to him to 
fit out an expedition and dispatch it after the rob- 
bers, and that such was the celerity in which this 
was done the parties went out to the place where 
the assault was made and arrived there just eight 
days after the commission of the offense! They 
immediately, on arrival there, returned by the same 
road to their starting point in the morning, and 
then were disbanded, but whether complimented or 
not in orders, I am not advised. From Parral 
they could have reached the place in less than 
twenty- four hours, instead of eight days, which it 
took them in the end. But the violent exertion of 
a more vigorous pursuit would have been a rank 
departure from a time honored usage. The matter 
is now pending between the respective govern- 
ments, and some interesting correspondence has 
taken place, calling into play diplomatic niceties 
and manifesting the warmest international relations. 
Of this I am glad, for I should dislike to be even the 
innocent cause of any disruption, the occasion of any 
grave State complication, much less a " casus belli. " 



224 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

Such, imperfectly sketched, was my experience 
with the mountain bandits. I hope not for its 
repetition. I only wish that the hand that traces 
these lines could more faithfully portray the scene 
and more vividly describe at that hour my surprise, 
my feelings and all the attendant circumstances. 
But such a picture would require the genius of 
some literary Raphael, some Washington Irving, to 
write it as it was. On the minds of others the pen 
paints it in imperfect colors. In my own memory 
it will remain undimmed by the dust, and uneffaced 
by the flight of years. Of it I have ceased to 
dream, but never to think. On several occasions 
since I have passed over the very spot with emo- 
tions that caused the unbidden tears to start ; and 
with a thankfulness swelling up from my heart 
over my happy deliverance. Association was then 
busy with the past, evoking the images, locating 
the different characters here and there until scene 
followed scene in swift succession, and there was a 
reproduction of the startling drama. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

MURDER OF AN AMERICAN IN THE MOUNTAINS. — 
CROSSES. — MURDER OF SENATOR COOPER. — NA- 
TIONAL SYMPATHIES. — IMMIGRATION DESIRED. 

Not more than two hours distant from the place 
of my robbery, and nearer to Parral, is a lonely moun- 
tain grave. There was the scene of a brutal trag- 
edy in the spring of 1886. Two Americans were 
going out to Parral and to the United States by 
this route, named respectively Preston and Houser, 
when they stopped at this place, near which runs a 
small stream, in order to eat and rest their animals. 
After having dismounted for a short time, and 
while preparing their little repast, with their arms 
and effects scattered upon the ground, two Mexican 
boys approached them and made inquiries respect- 
ing some lost cattle. This conversation, as it after- 
wards turned out, was a mere ruse to engage their 
attention and divert them from their premeditated 
purpose. Old man Houser was from the State of 
Iowa, Council Bluffs, and knew nothing of the 
language, and Preston but little. One of the Mex- 
icans picked up the pistol from the ground, asked 
questions which Houser did not understand; but 

15 225 



226 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

just then Preston's attention was called to what 
was transpiring, when he gave some signal of warn- 
ing to his companion. Just as he did this the 
Mexican fired upon Houser, killing him instantly, 
and turned upon Preston, firing also at him and 
shooting him through the wrist. Preston, al- 
though disabled to some extent, closed upon the 
assailant and threw him down, wrenched the pistol 
from his hand, but in the scuffle, being crippled so 
much, he could not then fire the pistol. The Mex- 
ican iu the end escaped, but not before Preston had 
fired at him several times. Some months after- 
wards the two Mexicans were captured, the re- 
ward for their capture being offered and paid by 
Americans. They have been in jail ever since, 
having confessed the crime, but for some unex- 
plained reason they yet live, enjoying the hospitali- 
ties of the prison in the city of Parral. It appears 
the motive which prompted the cold-blooded mur- 
derer was simply a desire to possess himself of a 
pistol. The younger of the Mexicans fled when 
the firing commenced. The fiend was perfectly 
willing to take a human life, one whom he had 
never seen before, if he could only rob him of a 
pistol. Such is their estimate of the value of a 
life, and the long-delayed punishment also indicates 
the standard of official efficiency in this country. 
The old man was going back home, but his pur- 
pose was thus untimely cut off, and near the spot 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 227 

where lie was so foully murdered they dug a hole 
in the ground and laid him away to his final rest. 
Some Americans passing by the spot some time 
after this, and seeing how exposed and neglected 
the grave was, took up the body and re-interred 
it in a more decent manner near some overhang- 
ing oaks, and there he uoav sleeps a stranger's last 
sleep amid the mountain solitudes. The ax has 
hewn a face upon one of the oaks which stand as 
sentinels near his sleeping form, and upon that 
smooth face is a rough inscription traced in pencil 
lines, telling of his name, residence, birth and 
death. In a brief time the action of the elements 
will efface the pencil record, and nothing save the 
rude cross and the little hillock will tell to the 
passing traveler the burial here of a human being. 
Anxious friends were awaiting him at home when, 
in the mysterious providences of life, his course 
was changed and he took his journey to a more 
distant land. The sight of the lonely grave awak- 
ened sad reflections. He must be buried where he 
fell, for his removal from the country was a physi- 
cal impossibility, as well as contrary to the law, 
until after a lapse of a certain period. Had he 
thus died young the pang of sorrow might have 
been less acute, but that an old man, thousands of 
miles away from home, should thus have perished 
calls for the saddest memories. The little stream 
at his feet will continue to make with its sym- 



228 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

phonies a sorrowful refrain, and the stars overhead 
in the long ages to come will see ungraced by affec- 
tion's flowers this lonely tabernacle of the dead. 
He was a stranger to me, but such a fate awakens 
a stronger sympathy for the living and sorrow for 
the dead. He had been lured away from his quiet 
home in the North by some oily-tongue adventurer 
upon extravagant misrepresentations as to mineral 
wealth at some point in the Sierra Madre, and it 
was when the pictured scene had dissolved and he 
was on his return journey that death met him at 
the hands of the assassin. 

I have thought if such things ever happen, that 
near this spot will the belated traveler, as he passes, 
hear the voice of a troubled spirit, mingled with 
the moaning, midnight winds, as o'er this lonely 
mountain grave they dirge the requiem of the 
dead. 

Here and there, scattered over the mountains, in 
the most out-of-the-way places may be seen over a 
little upraised earth some little crosses, fashioned in 
rudest manner from some limb of tree, the upright 
planted in the grave, split above and the transverse 
wedged within, and in which the moss of long 
years has gathered, as if to soften thus that symbol 
our faith. The cross ! the cross ! what a hold it 
has upon the human heart ! It takes us back more 
than eighteen hundred years to the Man of sorrows, 
to the Son of God. From whence came the cross 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 229 

save from the brow of Calvary ? Its teachings have 
compassed the sea, and gone out to the ends of the 
earth. So that to-day its mission is being pro- 
claimed in almost every land and clime, amongst 
every kindred, tongue and people. Its lesson is 
felt in the midst of waters, the deepest valleys, the 
highest mountains. I have seen them on top the 
highest mountain, there with outstretched arms, 
proclaiming in the wilderness the story of the cru- 
cifixion, the sweet evangel of divine love. 

The story of the cross is now as omnipresent as the 
atmosphere which surrounds us, giving life to all 
breathing things. Then no wonder here its heralds 
have told its rise, history and mission, and that the 
children of faith should plant it over the tombs of 
the dead, and link it with the thought of immor- 
tality. I have seen them carved upon the trees. 
This at times to indicate directions or the supposed 
vicinity of buried treasure, and again I have seen 
them upon the loftiest rocks overlooking the adja- 
cent country for miles and miles away. But the 
thought was there ; it came down upon the tide of 
the centuries, and its reputed origin is now well- 
nigh universally received. Here the Indian tribes 
associate it in some way with the Great Spirit and 
revere it as a holy emblem. The rudest nations do 
the same and overhang it with garlands of flowers 
as votive offerings from the heart. So interwoven 
is it now in our being that to push the thought 



230 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

from our hearts is to leave them without chart or 
compass, sail or anchorage in the storms of life. 

But it is needful that I hasten to other things. 
There is another grave which has around it sorrow- 
ful associations. I refer to that of the Hon. Henry 
Cooper, buried in the cemetery in the city of Culia- 
can. He was formerly a senator from the State of 
Tennessee, in the Congress of the United States. 
He was in the prime of life, universally beloved, 
and died universally regretted. He was president 
of the El Cuervo Mining Company, not far from 
this place, and accompanied by another gentleman 
and a faithful mozo, he had started in the interest 
of his company to transact some business in the 
city of Culiacan, expecting to return within a short 
time after his departure. When he had reached a 
point in the immediate vicinity of that city, and 
being a little in advance of his attendants, two 
Mexicans were seen to be approaching him with 
pistols in their hands and as if they were half- 
drunken. His companion from behind him cried 
out to him they were robbers, and just as he did so 
the Judge received a fatal shot through the body, 
falling from his horse and expiring immediately. 
By this time his friend had opened fire upon the 
attacking party, and had wounded and disabled one 
of those, who continued his fire, notwithstanding 
his wound, until the mozo who, at the commence- 
ment a little distance in the rear, ran up and killed 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 231 

him with his pistol. The other Mexican had man- 
aged for the time to escape, but in a few days was 
captured, found to he badly wounded, was put in 
prison, tried, and, I believe, condemned to be shot 
upon his recovery ; but taking advantage of his 
situation, died in prison, and thus escaped the sen- 
tence of the court. On several occasions I have 
seen the ground whereon that good man's life went 
out ; it is in the outskirts of the city, and, strange 
to say, rather a populous district. Judge Cooper's 
death produced a profound sensation, not only 
where killed, but in certain parts of the United 
States where he was so well known and highly 
esteemed. It was, I suppose, just one of those un- 
fortunate occurrences which are liable to take place 
in almost any country where pistols are worn and 
liquor is sold. 

It must be said in behalf of the authorities of the 
State of Sinaloa, that they then acted in the matter 
with the most conlmendable dispatch, evincing an 
honest determination to find and punish in the most 
summary way his murderers. In that State crime 
is much more certainly and severely punished than 
in this. But a few days before the Judge's depar- 
ture for Culeaean, I had received with much pleas- 
ure the promise of an extended visit, and was, as 
were we all, much shocked at the reception of the 
news of his death a few days afterwards. With 
heart-felt grief, kind friends and sympathizing 



232 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

strangers performed for the honored dead the fu- 
neral rites, and thus he was numbered with those 
who people the silent city of the dead. But I 
never think of his untimely " taking off/' unmixed 
with pain, of his grief-stricken family, without an- 
guish of heart. Once I walked out from the plaza 
a considerable distance to see his grave, but on the 
hour of my arrival the gates of the cemetery were 
closed and my purpose was defeated. From the 
same State, several thousand miles away in a for- 
eign land, I desired, at least in some humble man- 
ner, to leave some token of memory, and to testify 
my appreciation of his exalted worth. And here, 
may I not ask, have you never noticed how this 
State fraternity of feeling outcrops when seen away 
from home, and especially how sympathetic it is 
when felt on foreign shores. 

And now having paid my feeble tribute to the 
departed, let us pursue this line of thought just 
suggested a little farther. Probably distance from 
the same country nowhere binds men in closer 
union, if possessed of anything like similar habits 
and tastes, than when formed together in this re- 
public. The national bond is strong, and compa- 
triots naturally gravitate toward each other -in sym- 
pathetic union, unless repelled by the most unlovely 
traits, or a base abandonment of all the noble vir- 
tues. And this is none the less true in this remote 
section, as I have often seen it exemplified in the 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 233 

conduct toward each other of the members of the 
the same nationality. And while I do not wish to 
indulge in hypercriticism of Americans, yet it is 
the truth to say the strolling ones seen in these 
parts are generally of the hardest class, the tough- 
est genus, the most worthless species. Botanical! y 
considered, they are for the most part that kind of 
timber, out of which nothing good can be con- 
structed. And yet this kind of floating riffraff 
seldom fails to touch a responsive chord in the 
American heart, and he gives him food and money 
and sends him on his prospecting rounds. Two 
Germans, meeting here for the first time, will meet 
as brethren and of the Fatherland, will talk and 
talk until night has come and night has far ad- 
vanced. Two Irishmen, like melted wax, will run 
together, especially if warmed with " a bit of the 
craythur," until the words run into notes, and the 
notes into a song about the " Gem of the Sea," and 
the " Land of Erin go Bragh." In loving embrace 
they are happy once more, and tell over and over 
the scenes of the long ago, when as " spalpeens of 
boys " in the old country they frolicked for life and 
fought for fun. The grasp of the Frenchman is 
something more than a mere theatrical performance, 
and needs but the inspiration from the vintage of 
his own France to make him once more a member 
of the old Empire and an inheritor of the honors 
and glories of the great Napoleon. The Scotch- 



234 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

man and the Englishman are also clannish, and 
each thinks in his own favored land, as nowhere 
else, the sun, moon and stars rise and set. Mem- 
bers from the same State of our Union feel for 
each other a close relation, a tender feeling. The 
Virginians here believe in their mother State with 
a fonder devotion and intenser filial affection. 
" Old Virginia never tire," never tires with them, 
and no change of circumstances or place can ever 
change their affection. I doubt if any other than 
members of the " first families M ever left the " Old 
Dominion" to roam or dwell in other lands. And 
however low in condition he may become from the 
changes of fickle forture, he never loses his first 
love, and a fellow-Virginian, wherever he meets, is 
his " long lost brother," whether he 'has or has not 
" a strawberry upon his left arm." And so it goes. 
We take with us to foreign parts these inter- state 
partialities, and a long time must transpire ere these 
different constituents become fused into a homo- 
geneous whole. Even for our acquaintances, the 
familiar brutes, seen by us when we are far from 
home, we have more affection. Our neighbor's 
dog, when seen away, we like much more, and then 
wonder why we once so much disliked his nightly 
howls. Our neighbor's cat, which for hours on 
neighboring roofs and walls concertized to sleepless 
eyes, when seen in exile is poor Grimalkin then, 
and with soft words and gentle strokes we fain 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 236 

would make amends for spoken words and un- 
spoken thoughts ! 

While Mexico is desirous of immigration, she 
prefers colonies from different countries, so that 
the influence of no one may be controlling, but 
that of the one^may to some extent counterbalance 
that of the other. Many of her people are watch- 
ing with no little distrust the large influx of for- 
eigners. They fear that they may come in such 
numbers that in the course of time they may be 
able to control legislation and introduce radical 
changes in the State policy. And particularly are 
these fears entertained by some in reference to the 
border Stat* s, into which so many Americans are 
now pouring, and who have already bought up 
such immense areas of land. Some have ex- 
pressed a preference that these border lines might 
be peopled with German rather than American 
immigrants, as the former are regarded as more 
conservative than the latter, less likely to ex- 
cite disturbances alonac the frontier. But in the 
absence of positive prohibition I apprehend that 
the Americans will continue to cross over the 
border and fringe the frontiers with long lines 
of settlements, introducing American habits of 
industry and life, and gradually with their ap- 
proach, leavening with their thoughts and ways 
the contiguous communities. Energy and brains 
will triumph over inactivity and numbers. Such 



236 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 



is the history of the past and will be the record 
of the future. New blood will give new life and 
new life will put in quicker motion the wheels of 
State and national progress. 






CHAPTER XXXIII. 

RECIPROCITY TREATY. — ITS AIMS. — MEXICO AS A 
MANUFACTURING COUNTRY. 

Having now spoken in outline of the different 
classes of taxation, government, State and munici- 
pal, we pass to make some few observations in ref- 
erence to the proposed Reciprocity Treaty between 
the United States and this country. This was con- 
ceived with the view of making more intimate our 
trade relations. And in doing this it would at the 
same time tend to bring into more intimate social 
relations the people of these countries. An inter- 
change of trade would be accompanied by an iter- 
change of thought, and an interfraternity of feel- 
ing. The railroads penetrating this country had 
aroused its leading men to the importance of closer 
commercial relations. Railroads are the harbingers 
of trade, and in fact create business in the desert 
places. And so it was thought by the Mexican 
statesmen that such a treaty would be highly bene- 
ficial to the development of the wealth of their 
country, and it with but feeble opposition received 
the legislative sanction. I am sorry to say it met 

237 



238 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

with a dissimilar fate in the Congress of the United 
States, for, after having been approved by the Sen- 
ate, it was defeated in its passage by the action of 
the lower house, which hampered it with some pro- 
vision requiring an enabling act to make it effect- 
ive, and this has never been passed. 

And thus it is that the Reciprocity Treaty sleeps 
to this day, and there are no very favorable indica- 
tions that it will ever pass such a body as the last 
Congress of the United States. But in some essen- 
tial particulars, it is to be hoped, such a body will 
never again convene to direct the foreign policy of 
the government. I belief the chief reasons urged 
against the treaty is that it would militate against 
the sugar and tobacco interests of some of the 
States. So far as sugar is concerned, for the fiscal 
year ending January, 1886, the statistics show that 
Mexico actually imported more from the United 
States than she exported to it. During that year 
the refined sugar exported was of the value of 
§040,730. Central America, during that year, sent 
sugar to the United States in value of $441,876. 
I am sorry I have not the tobacco statistics before 
me for same period, except those as to leaf tobacco, 
and this was valued at $173,654, exported from 
Mexico. I find leaf tobacco, during April, 1887, 
imported by Mexico from the United States, to 
have been $18,861. This is taken from the report 
of the Treasury Department at Washington. Re- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 239 

turning to the article of sugar, in 1875 Cuba sent 
to the United States seventy-five per cent, of this 
product, while in 1885-6 she sent there ninety-four 
per cent, of the same. The product of the United 
States, compared with that grown in other coun- 
tries, and on which duties of importation are levied, 
is the merest fraction, and yet a tax of several 
cents in the pound must be paid by the people of 
the United States upon the enormous amount im- 
ported in order to keep alive within one or two 
States this languid industry. Sugar, as an article 
of daily consumption, has become a necessity, and 
the many should not pay to the few such an ex- 
travagant premium, millions in the aggregate, for 
their protection. The treaty proposed was experi- 
mental under its term of limited duration, and as- 
suredly within the time specified the articles on the 
list of Mexico asked to go in free could not have 
greatly injured the United States. Mexico pro- 
posed to admit free from the United States seventy- 
three articles if the United States would admit free 
twenty-eight of her articles. This treaty was 
signed by the American and Mexican commissions 
on the 20th of January, 1883, met with the ap- 
proval of the President and Senate of the United 
States, and was defeated by the lower House, and 
now has been again postponed for final action until 
some time in the early part of 1888. Of the 
seventy-three article referred to above Mexico has 



240 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

already placed forty-one of them upon her free list, 
which tariff went into effect on the 1st of July, 
1887, thus manifesting a liberality which should 
evoke a corresponding spirit. Seeing the apathy 
of the United States to meet her overtures for 
closer commercial relations, as demonstrated in her 
treatment of the proposed Reciprocity Treaty, 
Mexico, despairing of its ultimate passage, has al- 
ready entered into commercial treaties with Ger- 
many and France upon the most advantageous 
terms for these countries. Within the last ten 
years the exports from Mexico to the United States 
have been doubled, and it is estimated at Washing- 
ton that the imports by the former from the latter 
are about $20,000,000, gold, or $26,000,000 in sil- 
ver values. The policy of the present adminis- 
tration of Mexico is to extend in every practicable 
mode her trade relations to foreign lands as well as to 
stimulate, by proper inducements, her domestic in- 
dustries. 

Certainly Mexico presents a most inviting field 
as an outlet for the overflow productions of neigh- 
boring nations, and none could or should so read- 
ily avail themselves of the auspicious opportunity 
presented as the United States. Her geographical 
position furnishes superior advantages, shorter time 
is necessary to make her commodities marketable, 
and cheaper freight obtainable by reason of proxim- 
ity. The manufactured products of the United States, 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 241 

in excess of the actual needs of the country, must 
find a market somewhere, or stagnation supervenes, 
and no fairer field is offered for these than her sis- 
ter republic. It would appear to be the part of 
wise statesmanship to have entered on the " goodly 
land " while the gates were thrown open. But 
American statesmanship thought otherwise for the 
time, perhaps too much absorbed in some matters 
merely of local nature to lift themselves to the 
"height of the great argument," and take a broader 
view than is circumscribed by the imaginary lines 
of congressional districts. It is a sad commentary 
upon the average Congressman of to-day that he 
lowers himself into the mere politician, and into all 
that this term implies in its modern acceptation, 
and subordinates the whole to the part, his coun- 
try's interests to those of his section. 

So upon the whole I can but think that the ac- 
tion of the American Congress was a mistake in 
reference to the Reciprocity Treaty, that the reasons 
assigned for such action were not tenable in view 
of the actual facts, and that the manner of its re- 
jection, so far, has not been well calculated to in- 
crease and cement the fraternal relations between 
the two countries. But it is still to be hoped that 
other and broader statesmanlike views may yet be 
taken of this most important matter, that better 
counsels will prevail, and that better results will 
follow their adoption. And here it may not be ill— 

16 



242 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

timed to suggest that if the United States would 
take the import duty off from many of the raw 
materials which go into that country, and are man- 
ufactured there, it would greatly benefit their man- 
ufacturing interests, thus enabling the manufacturer 
to compete successfully with those of other coun- 
tries which admit free of duty the articles men- 
tioned. In fact then the United States would have 
the vantage ground, her lines of communication 
being much shorter, her markets nearer home. 
Wool is a notable example, of which great quanti- 
ties from Mexico might be exported to the United 
States with great profit to our manufacturers, if it 
were only relieved from the import tax with which 
it is now burdened, and from which it is disbur- 
dened in England, enabling her people to distance 
ours for this reason in their competition for the 
commerce of our neighboring nations. But some 
local interests must be subserved to the detriment 
of the general good. But when the futility of 
such a policy has been demonstrated by experi- 
ence, it would seem the wiser course in the future 
to inaugurate legislation having a broader basis and 
of more general application. These are simple 
suggestions, but, we think, if adopted, far-reaching 
in their beneficent results. Outside of the moun- 
tain districts, the resources of this country are yet 
undeveloped, its agricultural wealth, particularly, un- 
told, but time, experience, civilization and improved 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 243 

methods of labor must, from its wonderful fertility, 
call forth surprising results. There, such of these 
as were desirable, by enlightened legislation, by 
easy transit, would pass into the domain of the 
United States, exchanged for some of its surplus 
productions. Thus beneficial results would flow to 
both countries, the surplus of the one finding its 
disposition and equivalent in that of the other. 

I hardly think this as a manufacturing country 
can attain first rank, as water and coal are wanting 
— indispensable conditions to manufacturing cen- 
ters, and hence in the end must rely upon her soil 
and its products for greatness as a nation. At all 
events, her water-courses are limited in number 
and ability, and her coal fields, if existing in suffi- 
cient quantity and quality, are yet unexplored. 
The disposition of the better class of the Mexican 
people is for better relations with the United States, 
social and political. Of course there are some who 
disfavor such a course, but these are generally 
found among the more ignorant class, in whose 
hearts rankle envy and hate. Some, too, uninflu- 
enced by such motives, yet have an undefined fear 
that the cultivation of more friendly, social and 
business relations with the United States will prove 
in the end the introduction of the Trojan Horse, 
and that absorption must follow at no remote 
period. These views, I think, are not shared by 
many, although some of the periodicals give out such 



244 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

intimations; but these papers, as in our own coun- 
try, often are more the expression of the sentiments 
of the individual than a reflex of the public feel- 
ing. The advocacy of such a course in this coun- 
try would cost one his life, and its advocacy in the 
United States meet with no general favor, and 
hence the absorption theory is the merest ignis fatuus, 
the chimera of a distempered brain. But the two 
peoples can live side by side where nature placed 
them, in the friendliest intercourse, with no dreams 
of conquest and absorption, each in its sphere pur- 
suing its own appointed ways, and fulfilling its 
" manifest destiny." 



CHAPTER XXXIY. 

AMUSEMENTS. — BULLTAIL PULLING, ETC. — EGG- 
SHELL PERFORMANCE. 

The amusements of a people often proclaim their 
tastes and character. The Olympic games proclaimed 
a physical culture, and the wrestlers sought iron 
manhood. Effeminate games bespeak effeminacy, 
and bloody and cruel ones a bloody and cruel race. 
Innocent sports, unlike cruel ones, are never re- 
flexes of bad hearts, but speak of good and gentle 
natures. I think the chief amusements of the 
country, as now practiced, came from old Spain, 
the mother country. There is a day set apart in 
the year, almost generally observed, in which male 
and female repair to the country to witness a cer- 
tain game, which, in the absence of a better name, 
I will call " The Bull-tail Pulling." This is re- 
garded by highest and lowest, male and female, as 
one of the most exhilerating sports in the country. 
They come from far and near, and sometimes re- 
main for days, in order to witness, if not to partici- 
pate, in what is reckoned the splendid sport. A 
minute description will be helpful to a proper ap- 

245 



246 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

preciation of the game. Out some miles from the 
village, on some chosen spot in the mountains, an 
enclosure is made on level ground, running about 
the width of an ordinary lane several hundred 
yards. The upper part of this lane connects by 
drawbars with an adjoining lot, in which are turned 
for the occasion a number of bulls. The fiercer 
the animals the greater the sport. When the draw- 
bars are pulled down a watchman permits any one 
or two to pass into the lane at a time. The ani- 
mals, as they come out of the lot into the lane, are 
punched by a spear in the hands of the watchman, 
and frightened and maddened by the unexpected 
assault, they make a break at full speed down the 
lane for liberty, the further end of which is closed. 
Inside of the lane, and at the drawbars are sta- 
tioned horsemen, who dash after the bull as he 
dashes down to the further end of the lane. Now 
I will venture no one is wise enough to anticipate 
where the fun comes in unless he has seen or heard 
of it before. Why, the object of the rider is this, 
that he is to outrun the bull, and as he nears his 
tail, both going at full speed, the horseman 
stretches out his hand and seizes the bull by the 
tail, drives his horse suddenly forward by, just 
then driving into him his cruel spurs and throwing 
his right leg dexterously over the tail of the bull, 
held by the right hand, he turns the bull a terrible 
somersault on the ground, the rider in the act re- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 247 

laxing his hold and rushing forward a considerable 
distance before able to check the speed of his steed* 
Sometimes bulls and riders go down together in a 
promiscuous heap, attended with great danger to 
man and beast. The fence and fence corners on 
the outside are lined with curious spectators its 
entire length, while great numbers of men and 
women on horses, in convenient proximity, view 
the exciting chase. When the poor animal has 
been crippled or exhausted from his repeated falls 
he is then driven back into the pen and a fresh 
hull is sent forth for fresh sport. The young men 
dress themselves and their horses fantastically for 
the occasion and hope by their clever agility in 
throwing the bull to elicit the coveted applause 
from friends and lovers. This thing sometimes for 
days goes on. My sympathies were always with 
the bull in the race, and the bull in the fight. I 
thought the brute was less brutal than the brutal 
sportsmen. How ladies can look on such scenes 
and enjoy them for hours is to me a matter of pro- 
found surprise. I never attended but one of these 
games, but this will be sufficient until I see an- 
other, and this I shall never do if I can avoid 
it. During the performance the neighboring vil- 
lages are nearly deserted ; great and enthusiastic 
crowds are present with cheers and shoutings. Of 
course these performance teach no lesson, and do no 
good. They may serve to exhibit a creditable horse- 



248 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

manship, but at the same time a discreditable cruelty. 
To call that sport which does violence to other 
creatures is a bad misnomer. But the heartiness 
with which these people seem to enjoy these things 
tells of a coarseness, roughness and cruelty better 
befitting some dark age. I saw the priest present 
on the occasion of my visit, and he was there not 
to discourage or rebuke his parishioners, but him- 
self gave countenance to the game. " Like priest, 
like people." There is need that the schoolmaster 
should be abroad in the land, call him what you 
may, whether teacher or preacher, is immaterial, so 
he lights up the dark places, and plants in the 
heart the lessons of a sweeter humanity. 

The games in this section of the country are 
limited in number. The classes of amusements 
are few, and inferior in quality. Why, would you 
believe it, no circus with its clowns and sawdust 
and spangles, has ever made its " grand entry " into 
these mountains and pitched its big tent on the 
neighboring lot to the wonder and inexpressible 
joy of the half-grown urchins. In the absence of 
the circus they must amuse themselves as best they 
can, but for the circus there is no counterpart in 
the life of the young. With them it is ever ready 
to fill "a long-felt want," and a long-felt want is 
ever ready to be filled. Occasionally some strolling 
acrobats make their appearance and for a few 
days take the town by their gymnastic feats. 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 249 

The matter to Mexicans is simply inexplicable 
how men can do such things and be nothing 
more than men. Exhibitions of strength, feats 
of agility, and slight of hand performances excite 
the profoundest admiration. These wandering 
mountebanks gather in all the loose change from 
male and female, and often to the stint of the back 
and stomach. Hunger and cold must wait, but the 
appetite for the marvelous must be gratified. And 
in this the Mexican shows a great deal of human 
nature. 

Here there are no theaters and operas. The love 
of them may indicate high culture, but these 
mountains are too high for such aesthetic entertain- 
ments. No traveling agent has yet, with flaming 
hand-bills, advertised the approach of such com- 
panies in these parts, and the young man may yet 
call the dollars his own, which, were it otherwise, 
might go to the evening's entetainment of his fair 
senorita. I do not mean to say that there is a want 
of musical taste and culture, but the opportunities 
are wanting to the indulgence of them to any 
great extent. Here all classes are fond of music. 
I might truthfully say, inordinately fond of it. 
There is scarcely a village but that has one or 
two bands, and there is scarcely a week but on one 
or two occasions they do not parade the streets and 
make the welkin ring with their music and noisy 
demonstrations. Like the brass band everywhere 



250 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. ' 

it draws to itself in its march all the straggling 
loafers in town, not excepting the inevitable small 
boy, who either heads or skirts the procession in 
its aimless marches and countermarches. Their 
open air soirees, with their attendant crowds, pre- 
sent in dress and appearance a grotesque sight. 
Some Mexican, with a few dollars in his pocket, 
gets drunk and he immediately wants a band of 
music to go up and down the streets and stop in 
front of the houses and stores and play for glory, 
the glory of his being drunk ! It is then or never 
he relaxes his purse strings, and his soul floats out 
on the wings of song, or it finds its heaven in a 
band of music. Night and day he will keep up the 
performance, and keep the village awake until his 
funds are exhausted, or music no longer sooths his 
tired nature. The authorities of the place seem to 
catch the spirit of the occasion, and however annoy- 
ing and detrimental it may be to others, they never 
think of abating the sweet nuisance. 

Liquor of some kind generally starts the trouble, 
keeps it alive until it dies from sheer exhaustion 
after the lapse of some days. In the meantime it 
must be borne by all as the free musical treat of 
some eccentric drunken villager. Sometimes I 
have almost wished for the power to abolish brass 
bands, even at the risk of incurring the charge that 
I was " fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils." 
Even too much sweetness, ill-administered, palls 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 251 

upon the taste and sickens the hearer. The cul- 
tured young ladies discourse sweet music with 
guitar and harp. The men take to the violin and 
brass band, the noise from the latter of which we 
seldom fail to hear in the busy hours of the day or 
the tranquil hours of the night. I think some- 
body says that " Orpheus' lute was strung with 
poets' sinews ;" that is not exactly the case here, 
but for equipment of their instruments they find a 
never-failing substitute in the twisted entrails of 
poor Puss. Music I love, but not affectedly so; 
like many young men who, upon the rendering of 
some difficult opera, not one note of which they 
properly understand, will split with their clapping 
all to pieces a pair of bran new kids. I do n't 
think I undervalue music and its harmonizing in- 
fluences. In speaking of music, I remember and 
recognize the words of Eliza Cook when she says : 

14 It is the silver key to the fountain of tears 
Where the spirit drinks till the brain runs wild, 
The softest graves of a thousand fears, 
Where their mother care like a drowsy child 
Is laid asleep in flowers." 

But a Mexican can make too much of a good 
thing out of the best thing, by heroically overdos- 
ing at inopportune intervals his surfeited listeners. 
And of this I complain without underestimating 
the art or its value to the human race. 



252 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

There is another amusement which may be desig- 
nated as the egg-shell performance, from which 
they derive much enjoyment. For many months 
they will save up the egg-shells preparatory to the 
festival and paint them in variegated colors. In 
fact such is the demand that egg-shells become 
quite an article of merchandise before the ap- 
pointed day approaches. They take different col- 
ored paper and cut it up into fine powder and in- 
troduce this within the shell until nearly or quite 
full. When the company assembles its members, 
good-humoredly, commence breaking their shells 
over the heads and faces of those present and cov- 
ering them with the fine powder from within the 
shells, so that within a short time you would 
scarcely recognize your nearest neighbor and best 
friend, such changes in appearance have they un- 
dergone in such a short time. The egg-shells and 
their contents are ground into the hair of the par- 
ticipants in such a manner that repeated appli- 
cations of water, brush and comb must be made to 
relieve one of the offending particles. Egg-shells 
are the weapons with which they engage in these 
spirited contests, and he is lucky who comes out of 
these friendly encounters with, un bruised face and 
unpained eyes. To brighten the interest of the 
occasion, during the peltings of the egg-shells, 
bottles of Florida water are dashed into the faces 
of the contestants, and while they smart under the 









THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 253 

sting, it is seldom the least ill-humor is ever shown, 
but each takes the part he receives with a smiling 
complacence. Old men and old ladies, young men 
and young ladies all mingle in the sport, and enjoy 
with much satisfaction the hours of fun,their triumphs 
and discomfitures. Of course the little ones are 
transported with the entertainment and enter into 
it with a zest. And thus they pass a quarter part 
of the night in this frolicsome sport. But there is 
generally a dance on the occasion, and as is usual 
this"contributes to the enjoyableness of the festival. 
It is a season corresponding to what is known as 
Mardi Gras in some of the States, and each one is 
on his good behavior, so that the festivities are 
seldom marred by unpleasant occurrences. Once 
or twice I have been in attendance, and remem- 
bering that I was in Rome, I became for the 
time a Roman, and added as I best could to the 
gayeties of the hours by crushing egg-shells on 
others and by others crushing egg-shells on me. 
To crush them on the head of an American is 
rather an unusual privilege and considered the 
height of felicity. Sometimes this festival con- 
tinues for days, during which it is no exaggera- 
tion to say that bushels of painted egg-shells are 
used. In these friendly altercations the girls are 
regular " Tomboys," and from favored ones sub- 
mit to the crashing and crushing without a ripple 
of dissatisfaction. But naturally you know how 



254 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 



they will do, and why should my pen persist in a 
description of the parts they play in the frolicsome 
scene. So I will right now submit to a chastening^ 
rather than scatter, any more unappreciated pearls 
before you. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

DANCE. — DRESS, ETC. 

If there is one thing which the Mexican enjoys 
more than another it is the dance. In his youth he 
was brought up to it, and in his old age has not forgot- 
ten it. Nor will he forget it while the blood courses, 
or the muscles play. He looks upon life as one 
great big frolic, to be filled up with Mescal, music 
and dancing, and the end of life as some elysian 
ball-room where he may sip heavenly Mescal and 
dance the eternities away. His head and heart 
may remain undergraduates, but his heels must 
take the first diploma under the practical professors 
of Terpsichore. The education of the feet, so as to 
move in grace in the labyrinthine mazes of the 
dance, is of the supremest importance, and for this 
he expends his time and bends the energies of his 
nature. And so, from a professional standpoint, 
they are accomplished dancers, having made other 
things subservient to the attainment of this accom- 
plishment. Sometimes they will begin a dance 
here in the evening, continue it all night, the next day 
and the next night, rest a few hours, and continue it 

255 



256 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

until everybody is broken down, and nature refuses 
to take another step. They generally commence 
these dances on Sundays. Dancing and drinking go 
together, and when dancing fails, drinking never 
fails to floor them. On these occasions the ladies 
seldom are guilty of improprieties, but the men 
often make beasts of themselves. Men in liquor 
will do that everywhere. The music continues un- 
broken during the long hours, and until the cam- 
paign is ended the little fiddles and big fiddles, the 
little horns and big horns are tortured for their 
harmonies. They spend their money freely for 
the music, for this wafts them toward the ecstatic 
land. While the gentleman and lady dauce to- 
gether, yet, when the sets are ended, he escorts her 
to a seat and then retires until they commence 
again, w T hen he solicits again the same hand, or that 
of some other partner. The ladies generally sit on 
one side of the room and the gentlemen on the 
other. The lady goes to these gatherings, notwith- 
standing she may have an escort, attended by some 
other friend or member of the family. He is not 
privileged to go with her alone from her residence to 
the place of entertainment, but some other lynx-eyed 
person must obtrude himself or herself upon the 
young people, much to their embarrassment and 
dislike. Often it is the mother that thus shadows 
the girl, to her annoyance and that of her suitor. 
No man with any taste and spirit wants a mother- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 257 

in-law before he has a wife, " for sufficient unto the 
day is the evil thereof." At the dance, the only 
time the gentleman gets to talk to his partner is 
when actually engaged on the floor, for so soon as 
the dancing ceases the conversation ends. Herein 
may lie the fondness of both sexes for the pro- 
longed exercise, as it affords ample opportunities 
for divulging long pent-up heart secrets. The 
gentlemen do not shrink from the intoxicating 
waltz, and the ladies are equally as courageous, 
and, not to be outdone in the boldness of perform- 
ance, yield themselves to voluptuous embraces ot 
their partners, and are whirled and whirled to 
strains of music, as " they chase the glowing 
hours with flying feet." At times his whole ex- 
pression indicates he is weary of his burdensome 
charge, but she " fashioned so slenderly, young and 
so fair," as the ivy with twining tendrils around 
the oak, clasps him the closer for continued sup- 
port. And the poor thing seems to need assistance 
too, as she floats in the dance — some manly heart 
whereon to lay her weary head, while the whites of 
her upturned eyes have a far-away look, reminding 
one of the frightened, motherless calf. In the 
contest of endeavor he can claim no advantage, for 
what she lacks in toughness of fiber and suppleness 
of action she is more than compensated for by the 
delicious privilege of swooning away in the arms 
of her protector, who unmurmuringly must at the 
17 



258 THE MO UNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

close bring the precious freight into port in gallant 
style. The body grows weary, but the spirit never 
tires. The dresses worn are not ill-suited to the 
occasion. While I am not aware that Mr. Worth 
has ever built outfits for these high altitude lasses, 
yet, in some ingenious manner, they manage the 
thing so as to array themselves in vestments of 
rare texture and beauty. It will be late in the 
season when women are left on the question of 
dress. This matter of dress addresses itself not 
only to her taste, but to that of her adorers, and 
she makes it ever a study to adorn herself in 
comely and graceful attire. Knowing the condition 
of many the wonder is, and this grows as I wonder, 
from whence came these costly fabrics, fashioned in 
such bewildering style. One would suppose that 
from the poverty of their resources they could not 
pay the duties of importation. But woman's in- 
genuity tackles the question, and the thing is set- 
tled. Of course the old man now and then groans 
a big groan and grunts a big grunt, but the 
girl, reinforced by the old lady, attacks the 
stronghold with their invincible weapons, and 
the man once more capitulates, dropping from 
his nerveless grasp the shining coin. Against 
their eloquent importunities there is but feeble 
resistance and no defense, and their demand 
for an unconditional surrender is tersely expressed 
in these words, " down with the dust." Fashion 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 259 

magazines, with latest plates from Madrid and the 
Capitol, are found even here upon the drawing- 
room tables of the fashionable senoritas. From these 
they take their lessons and make their rehearsals. 
I am not sure that the Mexican girl is very differ- 
ent from her sisters elsewhere, except, if possible, 
she may be more fond of style. But now ^1 tread 
upon the boundaries of a debatable land, and dis- 
miss the subject to other more curious investigators 
than myself. The foregoing are some of the more 
noticeable features of the Mexican dance and 
dancers. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



BULL FIGHT. 



The most exciting sport in Mexico is the bull 
fight. This had its origin in Spain, but has been 
practiced here for centuries. It may be rightly 
termed a national game, recognized as such in all 
sections and by all persons. While in the city of 
Mazatlan some years since, I once attended an ex- 
hibition of this character. On that day I was the 
guest of the German Consul, an elegant gentleman, 
and after we had dined he insisted that, as I had 
never been, I should go with him to the bull fight 
that evening. Fearing I might give offense to my 
host by a persistent refusal I consented, and 
went with him and witnessed the performance. 
There is a large amphitheater which will seat thou- 
sands, with rows of seats rising one above the 
other, in the enclosure of which are driven the 
bulls through a gate from an adjacent lot, one at a 
time. The larger, fiercer, and more vicious the 
animals the more exciting the sport and the more 
valiant his slayer. In this ring passes the matador, 
as he is called, the bull fighter, attended by several 
260 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 261 

others, whose part seems secondary to that of the 
matador. All these are dressed in tight stripes and 
glaring colors, and with little flags or a banner or 
blanket in their hands. As soon as the bull enters 
the amphitheater he is stricken with a sharp-pointed 
iron several times, causing the blood to flow freely, 
and he plunges forward, maddened by the blows 
towards the parties. But he is received by the 
El-picador, a mounted spearman, for whom he then 
makes a headlong pluuge, and if the horseman can 
not avert his course his life is in imminent peril ; 
or if he escapes, the poor horse may be horribly 
gored in the side, and often from the ghastly 
wound his bowels fall on the ground, and lengthen 
from his now shrunken sides as he drags and kicks 
them in his short circuit ere he drops dead in his 
tracks. To elude the furious onset of the bull, by 
an agile movement the flag-bearers shelter them- 
selves behind little stations provided for that pur- 
pose within, but at the outer circle of the enclosure. 
And were these stations not made so secure the 
violence of the assault made by the bull upon them 
would result in their demolition and the death of 
the refugee. Having expended some of his force in 
the vain endeavor to overtake the first fugitive he 
now turns to the others, who are irritating him by 
shaking flags in his face or making menacing ges- 
tures. These too are soon compelled to find a 
refuge from his fury. Becoming wearied from re- 



262 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

peated efforts to punish his tormentors his passion 
for the time somewhat abates, and then to arouse 
him to a crazy fury some of the attendants are each 
provided with small flags, the staffs of which are 
iron or steel, the heads or lower portion of which 
are sharpened and barbed. These flags, one in 
each band, the attendant will take, and while the 
attention ot the bull is directed by some other par- 
ticipant in the fight, will approach the bull by a 
surprisingly active movement and plant the barbed 
flags in the shoulder or neck of the animal and 
leave them securely fastened there in the quivering 
flesh. He shakes and shakes to rid himself of the 
painful things, but the vibrating flags only lacerate 
and pain the more, the more he moves. With dis- 
tended nostrils and glaring eyes he now and then 
stops to paw the earth looking like madness in 
agony. The flag-bearers must now look to their 
safety in their activity and sure-footedness. For 
should they stumble or fall they might not rise 
again from the pursuit of the furious beast. But 
as opportunity presents itself some one of the at- 
tendants will drive more barbed flags, wreathed 
with festoons, into his body, augmenting his tor- 
ture. The matador, in the meantime, has not been 
a silent spectator, but with a large flag in one hand 
and a sword in the other, as the bull wauld rush 
toward him, he would throw the flag over his face, 
and jumping aside, thus avoid the blow. This flag, 






THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 263 

at times, the bull would dash to the ground and 
trample it under his feet with an air of wild tri- 
umph. These scenes are witnessed with the noisi- 
est demonstrations, the excitement of the spectators 
increasing with the flow of blood and the shifting 
dangers of the situation. In the course of time 
the body of the animal is thickly studded with the 
metal arrows, some bearing flags and some wreathed 
with artificial flowers which have opened up foun- 
tains of blood, with which his sides are reeking as 
it goes dripping in pools below. Now the sight is 
sufficiently sickening and shocking to the strongest 
nerves. All this to furnish amusement to gratify 
the coarsest taste. From exertion and loss of 
blood, exhaustion at length comes on and the mat- 
ador, armed with a long, sharp dirk-shaped knife, 
by a few alert strides unharmed, reaches the bull, 
and with a well-directed blow drives the knife at 
some fatal spot deep into his neck, and upon its 
withdrawal the blood jumps from the gaping wound. 
The poor animal, stunned and sickened, reels and 
sinks to the earth another trophy of the wicked 
sport. 'T is then the spectators indulge in the loud- 
est huzzahs, and the matador receives their loudest 
plaudits. 'Tis thus he retires from the ring bow- 
ing his acknowledgments to his enthusiastic ad- 
mirers with an Io triumphe air about him. One 
bull after another is thus slain until as many as six 
or eight may be killed during one evening's per- 



264 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

formance. But when you have seen one you have 
witnessed the whole thing, with possibly some 
minor variation of incidents. As soon as one is 
killed he is dragged out of the ring by horsemen, 
who are near for that purpose, and the flesh on the 
morrow to the assembled spectators of the day is 
regularly retailed at market rates. So the game 
may have a double aspect, meat and sport. Such 
sights must leave a bad impression upon the young 
hundreds who are in attendance as witnesses of the 
cruel spectacle. Young ladies, too, elegantly 
dressed, belonging to the higher classes, are pres- 
ent and give countenance and approval to the pro- 
ceedings. Not only with unshocked hearts, but 
with manifestations of pleasure, they look at the 
bloody drama. Gentlemen take their wives and 
children and make it an enjoyable pastime, varying 
the every-day occurrences of life. But I am glad 
to learn that of later years the sport in many parts 
of the republic has gone somewhat into disuse, in- 
dicating, I hope, the approach of a better time for 
the bull aud for his persecutors. On the evening 
of my visit one of the participants in the ring was 
a lady. I beg pardon of the sex, a woman, an un- 
sexed one at that, who, by the fullness of her limbs 
and the fewness of her skirts, which were also 
short and showy, made herself shockingly conspicu- 
ous. She narrowly escaped with her life, as she 
stumbled and fell to the earth, but by rare fortune 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 265 

regained her footing, and found safety in the pro- 
tecting station. She was nothing more than a fe- 
male brute, with the lowest and meanest habits, 
passions and tastes, a libel on her sex, and a disgrace 
to her race, and as between her and the gentle- 
manly bull, he had my warmest sympathy as much 
as if he were " the under dog in the fight." And 
this is the national amusement of which the Span- 
iards and Mexicans so much boast ! People, male 
and female, abandoning their business occupations 
for the time, will spend hundreds of dollars and 
travel hundreds of miles by private conveyance, in 
order to see these revolting exhibitions. What a 
standard of taste and morals it foreshadows ! But 
let us indulge in the hope that this relic of barbar- 
ism will soon pass away with the civilizing out- 
growth of the land, and that it will find its appro- 
priate burial-place beside the inquisition and other 
cruelties of the dark ages. The nineteenth cen- 
tury, with its wonderful tendencies, is unfavorable 
to its growth, but favorable to its death. As the 
reign of cruelty gives way may that of love in- 
crease, until the coming years shall see a lovelier 
earth, peopled w T ith a sweeter and lovelier race. 
And to this sentimeut will not all my readers re- 
spond a hearty affirmative? 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

DRINKING GENERAL. — EVIL EFFECTS. 

Let us now turn and speak of some of the habits 
and customs of this people. The first habit which 
arrests our attention, by reason of its universality, 
is that of drinking. The fewest number are ex- 
empt from this vice. It is strange to see men, 
otherwise good citizens, to this thing yielding sub- 
mission. For this reason those who, by virtue ol 
their social position, should be good exemplars in 
society are bad exemplars in morals. Men are 
generally imitators. Few men have sufficient 
strength of character to be independent in thought, 
and speech, and action. Hence, if the best in the 
country are drunkards, the worst can scarcely be 
less. They will follow the example before them, 
and jump unchallenged with their leaders into per- 
dition. As here the leaders all drink and become 
drunken, so their followers do the same. And the 
same evil consequences flow from drink here as 
flow from it the world over. By this curse the 
poor are made poorer, and the better conditioned 
worse. The poor peon, with scarcely any raiment 
266 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 267 

to his back, and no shoes to his feet, goes stagger- 
ing in the street, having put his wages in drink in- 
stead of family supplies. He falls upon the street, 
or reels to his hovel and sleeps the stupor off, 
while his wife and children are starving by piece- 
meal. He robs others and those the nearest to him 
by blood and affinity that he may selfishly gratify 
the meanest appetite. In liquor his meanness is 
fully developed. What was before suppressed or 
hidden now is revealed with all of its deformities. 
Liquor is the magician's wand which brings treach- 
ery into light, and murder in the heart into murder 
in the act. It serves as a magnifying lens to the 
character of these drunken wretches, breaking re- 
serve, piercing disguises, and painting in Irue col- 
ors what manner of men they are. In the wide 
universe I venture to affirm there is no tougher 
character than the drunken peon. Life, property, 
wife, children, nothing is sacred to him ; his hand 
is that of a regular Ishmaelite, against every one, 
and boldly sets at defiance the peace of society and 
the laws of the land. In him the worst elements 
are so mixed as to make the very worst citizen. 
The meanness latent becomes the meanness open, 
defiant. Nor does it seem to be regarded as a dis- 
qualifying vice for the better positions in society, 
but looked upon as something to be expected in 
the life of all, and in no manner to be reprobated. 
And so general is the custom it may almost be said 



268 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

that the Mexican who does not drink and get drank 
is the dead Mexican. One unaccustomed to such a 
condition of things can only, with much difficulty, 
accommodate himself to his changed relations. A 
good deal of wine and brandies are imported into the 
country, and much of this of a very inferior qual- 
ity. It sells high, but is bought with eagerness 
and drunk with avidity. Of course it is only the 
better class which can afford such expensive in- 
dulgence. The poor class, for the gratification of 
this appetite, rely upon the products of the soil, 
and I might add are the best of patrons. From a 
certain plant, which in certain sections grows well, 
a liquor they call Mescal is manufactured. The 
plant is most extensively cultivated for this pur- 
pose, and from its manufacture immense fortunes 
are made. It is indigenous to the coast and warm 
lands, and when cultivated grows luxuriantly. It 
sells, after heavy freight has been paid upon it, for 
three cents a drink, and is thus brought within the 
reach of the poor. When tasted for the first time 
it is simply villainous, and the wonder is how men 
can ever so educate themselves as to crave it. But 
such is the fact, and the desire becomes so strong 
after a little while that it claims a preference. The 
practice of drinking is so common that it demoral- 
izes labor and makes it inefficient and unreliable. 
It is immaterial how urgent may be the necessity 
for prompt and vigorous labor, liquor may thwart 




THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 269 



all of your purposes and upset all of your calcula- 
tions. The injury received at the time can not be 
repaired, and you must bear in silence your injuries 
as the inevitable. Elsewhere you might have some 
recourse for damages, but here such a proceeding 
would be the silliest measure, for from it no prac- 
lical good could result. u Sue a beggar and get a 
louse." As poor and wretched as these people are 
they are made more so by liquor, which is to-day 
not only here, but in other portions of the world, 
the greatest crime of the age. It destroys more 
homes and lives, brings more misery, ruin and 
wretchedness and deaths, than all things else in the 
world. If ever prohibition was needed it is right 
here and now. If people will not save themselves, 
the law, then in mercy, with its protecting arms, 
should be long enough and strong enough to reach 
and reclaim them. The State has an inherent 
power to protect itself and to prevent its members 
from committing suicide, and it is derelict in its 
duty if, when the occasion demands it, it should 
fail to discharge this obligation. Liquor, poverty, 
ignorance and crime are the most intimate associates, 
and wives, women and children the greatest suffer- 
ers from the unholy association. But it is not my 
purpose to descant at length upon this vice, but 
rather to notice its existence, its extent and evil 
consequences. I fear many years must pass before 
a reformation can be here effected, so wedded are 



270 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

the people to the prevailing vice. Nothing short 
of a great moral revolution can ever break its 
strength and force its devotees from this body and 
soul-killing tyrant. At best reforms move slowly. 
Much time is consumed in planting seed-truths, in 
their germination, cultivation and growth before 
they flower and bear fruit for the healing of the 
people. Much time is needed in preparing the soil 
of good and honest hearts for the reception of those 
truths which, when received, will in the end diffuse 
themselves through the different strata of society, 
and confer untold blessings on a Jiving and an un- 
born race. So upon the whole, in this particular, 
I see no immediate prospect for many years to come 
of a change for the better. I wish I could indulge 
more hopeful views, but the signs of the political 
zodiac forbid at present this entertainment. Noth- 
ing short of the power of the nation can stop such 
supplies from gratifying such appetites. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

PROFANITY. — BURIAL CUSTOMS. 

The habit of swearing, as indulged in in the 
United States, does not here obtain. It is probable 
the American can use more oaths in a shorter time 
and with a greater variety of tone, gesture and 
meaning than any other person. In this line he is 
unquestionably an artist. If you disagree with me, 
I refer you to Jack the sailor, the mule driver, and 
the young man on a July morning breaking up a 
new ground with a yoke of young steers. While 
the Mexican has not yet learned in this way to give 
vent to his feelings, yet he has a vocabulary of bill- 
ingsgate, which, for vulgarity and course ribaldry 
in the nomenclature of no other nation finds its 
equal. The presence of ladies somewhat deters the 
American from giving expression to his voluble 
oaths, but their presence is no embarrassment to the 
Mexican, when in words he would relieve his mind 
of its weight of filth. Nothing shocks him, and, in 
this particular, there is a poetic equality between 
him and the burro ; the sense of decency he does 
not recognize in the burro, nor does the burro rec- 

271 



272 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

ognize it in him. I do not mean to say that every 
Mexican acts thus, any more than every American 
swears; but this, that the expletives of the Mexi- 
can, are unapproached, and unapproachable in 
outrageous obscenity. The flexible language is 
twisted into terrible anathemas, and becomes the 
vehicle of concentrated wormwood and gall. So, 
as between him and his neighbor across the border, 
in shocking invective and profanity, there is not 
much difference, doing the same thing through the 
employment of different vernaculars. I think this 
habit is confined principally to the men, but now 
and then a female interlards her Castilian with 
some unrhetorical excerpts, such as have been de- 
scribed. But in this line she is a feeble imitator, 
as her masculine prototype disdains all competition. 
One of the most distasteful of all repulsive objects 
is a cursing woman. In defiance of the ordinary 
decencies and properties of life she cuts herself 
adrift from human sympathies. 

The burial customs are peculiar. These people 
have their Potter's field, wherein they inter the 
poorer classes, those unable to pay the expenses of 
interment. Those who die in the hospitals and 
prisons have but little ceremony and lamentations 
made over them. A detail of prisoners (with 
guards), takes the body to the grave, borne upon 
their shoulders; these constitute the funeral cor- 
tege. A public coffin is kept in readiness for the 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 273 

purpose, and, as they die, this is called into requisi- 
tion to carry the body to the graveyard. When it 
reaches the grave the body is taken from it and un- 
coffioed, the body goes into its resting-place, while 
the coffin is returned for the next unfortunate. 
This public coffin I have seen on several occasions, 
as it rested on the shoulders of the pall-bearers, go- 
ing and returning to the cemetery. It is rather 
fancifully painted in stripes and colors. Armed 
soldiers attend the prisoners who bear it to and 
from the grave. And thus, from the prison of life 
to the prison of death, sadly recurring thoughts will 
come as we reflect upon the theme suggested. A 
shallow grave is dug, the rock forbidding further 
depth ; no song, no prayer, a profane word, a hol- 
low jest, and then unwept, the dust goes to its fel- 
low dust, and the spirit to God who gave it. How 
truthfully spoken in the play is the sentiment of 
Joe Jefferson, " How soon we are forgotten when 
we are dead and gone." 

But "there are more pretentious cemeteries in 
which it costs something to be buried. The ground 
must be paid for, and other incidental expenses 
which are felt and remembered by the family of 
the deceased. The cemeteries which I have seen 
are unornamented, and are left in a comparatively 
neglected condition. It is necessary, in many 
places, to deposite the bodies in tombs above 

ground, constructed of rude masonry, because of the 

18 



274 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

solid rock underneath. Often these works are left 
in a badly dilapidated condition, through the 
broken arches and apertures of which may be seen 
the skeletons of the buried. I think I observed in 
one of these no less than three skulls, and this in- 
spection having satisfied my curiosity, I cared not 
to prosecute further my examination in that direc- 
tion. But when the ground will permit they are 
buried in the earth. When the coffin is lowered, 
some dirt is cast upon it, a foot or more, and 
then some one jumps down into the grave, and, 
with a large rock, he rams time and again the earth 
upon the coffin. Now and then the rock, weighing 
probably twenty or twenty-five pounds, he will 
raise as high as he can and then let it fall upon the 
dirt to be certain that the earth is sufficiently com- 
pacted. He then comes out. More dirt is cast 
down, and then he again descends with his rock 
and goes through the same actions ; and this he con- 
tinues to repeat until the grave is filled. While 
this is being done those standing around are talking 
and laughing as if nothing more than the common- 
est occurence of life was transpiring. No funeral 
obsequies, no air of solemnity is seen, nothing to in- 
dicate a sense of loss, a feeling of grief, unless, per- 
haps, by the bearers of lighted candles, tied with 
bits of black ribbon, and mechanically held in their 
hands during the burial. Those who attend must, 
of necessity, walk, or at best, attend upon horse 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 275 

back, as there are no vehicles and no roads for the 
same. There are reliefs of pall-bearers if the dis- 
tance is considerable, for upon their shoulders they 
carry the wooden, decorated coffin. These coffins 
are buried with the dead. The members of the 
family do not go to the grave at the burial. These 
take their last look and say their last farewell at 
the home of the deceased. I am not sure but this 
custom is a good one. It saves the further pangs 
inflicted in the presence of the grave, the lowering 
body, the rumbling earth, the closed sepulcher. 
The briefer the services, to be decently appropri- 
ate, is often a mercy to the sorrowing survivors. I 
was once invited to attend the funeral of the little 
child of a Mexican acquaintance ; when I went I 
was surprised to find no member of the family 
present. I then learned, for the first time, such 
was not the custom. The little coffin, with quite a 
profusion of flowers, was borne on a litter by strong 
persons, over-canopied with rich hangings, and a 
long retinue of little children made up the funeral 
procession. A few older persons were present, 
friends of the family, to direct the funeral, but the 
little children were the chief mourners present on 
the occasion. There is also this tendency here, 
where the ability is present, to have expensive 
funerals. I knew one instance where the family of 
the deceased were almost impoverished by the extrav- 
agant outlay at the funeral, costing many hundred 



276 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

dollars, when, at the same time, they were com- 
pelled to borrow money to meet the actual necessa- 
ries of life. The folly of such a thing must be ap- 
parent to the least observant. We should not rob 
the living to enrich the dead with an idle pomp and 
gorgeous pageant at the grave. There is an empty 
vanity in this, which the dead, were they living, 
would rebuke, and the living should do the same. 
It is a species of pride, vain glory, that should per- 
ish with the growth of better ideas. It does no 
good to the dead, and much inconvenience and 
often harm to the living. The graves have over them 
many curious inscriptions, quaintly, at times, com- 
memorative of the deceased. Cemeteries every- 
where, I suppose, perpetuate many lies cut in stone 
and marble. We under-estimate the vices and 
magnify the virtues of the dead, and, through the 
softened light of charity, read the lives of the de- 
parted. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

MARRIAGES. — HOW CELEBRATED. — COURTING. 

I should not fail to say something in reference to 
the marriages in this country. Their celebration 
by the civl magistrate is all that the law now re- 
quires. However, the rites are generally solemized 
also by the priest. The females, for the most part, 
insist upon this latter solemnization, while the men 
are more indifferent to it. The law requires that 
some civil functionary should perform the marriage 
service, to preserve the rights which flow from 
such a relation, for instance, the rights of property 
and the legitimacy of children. Something like 
the bans are published for a given time before the 
event takes place in the parish church. It costs 
something to get married in this country, and espe- 
cially is this the case if the priest has a hand in the 
affair. Often, I am told, for his services he will 
charge several hundred dollars, and the cash must 
come down ere the two hearts can beat as one 
with his permission. The truth is, the fees are 
so high in some parts that it exceeds the abil- 
ity of the contracting parties to consummate the 

277 



278 , THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

marriage. I believe the poorest peon must pay 
about eleven dollars in order to make some female 
peon as miserable as himself. It really, in some 
places, is a virtual inhibition upon the institution. 
The girl will have the priest if she marries, and the 
fellow, not being able to pay for such a costly lux- 
ury, the consequence is, they either quit, or, which is 
more frequently the case, they live together for years, 
rearing a family of children, and then, on some fine 
day, when a change of good fortune has overtaken 
them, they are regularly married according to law and 
the canons of the church. Thus it is often the case 
that the father and mother are married in the pres- 
ence of their numerous children. A singular state 
of affairs, you may say, and I agree with you, but 
it is one of the customs of the country. In the 
United States the cost of marrying is insignificant; 
it is the cost afterwards that makes the perspiration 
flow. If many of the young men there were com- 
pelled to pay as here, a few hundred dollars for the 
privilege, it might check hasty marriages and 
shorten the perquisites of the clergymen. The fee 
of the priest is graduated by the position and abil- 
ity of the bridegroom. He sets his figures, and he 
sets them high, too, and the poor fellow must come 
up like a ■* little man " and plank down the cash, or 
else the good Father will not ferry him over the river. 
If possible he pays the priest, and then whips him- 
self, if not his wife afterwards, for his enforced lib- 



; 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 279 

erality. But now he is at least married, and for 
the future he can afford to live hard and die poor. 
The marriage occasion is generally attended with 
festivities — some dance or other public entertain- 
ment. There are but few people who adopt the cus- 
tom of the ancient Thracians, who wept at the 
cradle and danced at the grave. These dances at 
marriages are generally protracted ones, and liquors 
flow freely until the guests often find their level on 
the floor. Presents too are given ; some souvenirs 
for the future. 

There is also this custom, which is an unusual 
one, that the young lady's outfit should be pur- 
chased by the bridegroom. This is considered the 
desirable thing, and the young gentleman has, for 
once, an opportunity of exhibiting his taste, and if 
he would please his affianced he should make no 
mistake at this point. And then, too, it pleases the 
old people to see their daughter starting out in life 
well provided for — by another. Should they at 
once commence housekeeping, a few household 
goods are given them, or the young man is advised 
where he can buy them from some other member of 
the family, and then they go out into the world with 
the benediction, u God bless you, my children/' 
resting upon their heads. If, in our country, it 
were intimated to the young man the necessity of 
purchasing the girl's trosseau, I apprehend he 
would hie away to the " hills of Hepsidam." But 



280 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

here it is all right, everybody is pleased with the 
beautiful custom, and the bridegroom knows the 
character and cost of the rich apparel and " fixings " 
before the eyes of the bride have seen the sweet 
vision. I do n't believe our girls would submit to 
such treatment, and would rather remain unmar- 
ried {for a time) than to yield such a first sight to 
their intended. There is a delicious mystery about 
such things, the first sight of which should be un- 
seen, save through the veil of maidenly modesty. 

But the courting comes before the marriage, and 
this is always an interesting chapter in life, however 
uneventful in other respects. Doubtless my young 
lady readers may have more than a passing curi- 
osity to know how the thing is done in this coun- 
try. In some respects it is different, in many, sim- 
ilar to those since wooing was heard with the 
songs of the birds in the bowers of Eden. It is 
one of those blessed things which must remain for- 
ever unpatented, and in which there are no exclu- 
sive rights or privileges, and on which no improve- 
ment has ever been made since, for aught I know, 
the morning stars sang together. (The senoritas 
(young ladies), are never permitted to go out un- 
attended. Girls ten and twelve years old must 
have some one to go with them across the street, to 
the school-house, to the nearest neighbors ; and to 
go to any public gathering, church concert, or ball, 
without some member of the family or other cha- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 281 

peron, is never thought of, and, were it done, would 
set the tongues of all the gossips to wagging, and 
these are always graduates in the " school of 
scandal." What an occupation that must be to 
have one's ears converted into courtship funnels, into 
which must be poured all the trashy verbiage and 
unreportable silliness of kittenish lovers ! And, 
up to this time, no soporific has been discovered 
which brings inattention to the wakeful eyes and 
ears of such chaperons and sentinels. So, really, 
the opportunities for sure enough, down right, good, 
honest courting are rather limited, as what is done 
must be done quickly and to the point, and in the 
unguarded moments of the watcher. No excursion 
parties, nor walks in the garclen among the flowers 
and bees and humming birds, no moonlight strolls, 
no naming of stars, are permitted un watched by 
some family policeman. The young man must 
study his astronomy in his own studio or in his 
lonely walks, unembarrassed by his sweetheart's 
presence. That it is so may "be good for science, 
but bad for the lover. Again, the houses are so 
constructed that gratings of iron are placed in the 
windows perpendicularly in position so that while 
the windows reach to the floor they do not permit 
ingress or egress. In the evenings those windows 
are favorite places where the young people meet, 
but on either side of the intervening bars. Situa- 
ted thus, with the protection of the iron railing, 



282 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

she is not subject to the customary espionage. And, 
if the lover is liked, the old people permit the 
young people to hold " sweet converse" for an in- 
definite time. Before the matter has progressed so 
far, he will simply wander along in front of the 
window where she is stationed, and, with a bow 
and smile in Chesterfieldian style, make his saluta- 
tion. From the manner in which she returns his 
advances, he can but know whether his attentions 
have been favorably received or otherwise. Her 
smile may bring hope or her frown despair. But re- 
ceiving encouragement of some kind he is embold- 
ened to approach nearer, and linger longer. If pos- 
sessed of any address and he then can gain her ear, 
the chances are that, with melifluous words, he will 
gain her heart. To her his charm of manner, the 
persuasive witchery of words, and earnest purpose 
make him invincible. They talk about a thousand 
sweet nothings, and a thousand other things of 
which we know nothing, and yet their store of talk 
remains unexhausted. u I would just like to know 
what those children can find to talk about so much," 
says the old lady, and the old man replies, " I won- 
der too, but I '11 be blest if ever I will tell you." 
So soon have they forgotten they were children 
once, and then, as children now, did such childish 
things. And so it is, and was, and ever will be, till 
the end of the world. If the young people should 
live at some distance from each other the mails are 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 283 

burdened with these perfumed missives, just like it 
is everywhere else. Here the embarrassments are 
more numerous and annoying. Yet he recognizes 
the aphorism that a a faint heart never won a fair 
lady, " and his redoubled courage and persistency 
win in the end. No studied phrases nor set forms 
of speech cau reach the heart like earnest love's 
impromptu talk. Where this is mutual, and " the 
time is up," the thing just courts itself. No art is 
needed when heart seeks heart ; the welding pro- 
cess has begun, and union is the end. Of course 
she has called him this and that, " a bad thing," 
" the meanest man in town ; " told him " to go away 
from here," and " not to call again. " Yet eyes and 
smiles are better tell-tales than such words — 
woman's words — and he goes again, to find a 
warmer welcome than ever before. They have their 
little quarrels, too, from some little somethings, 
which explanations cure. Sweet reconciliation 
comes, estrangements go, and life is a dream until 
the marriage day. And this is the way they court 
in Mexico. There are some artificial obstructions- 
some man made barriers, but when these are out of 
the way, then nature proceeds upon the same line, 
to the same object, irrespective of geographical di- 
visions. The haughtiest grandee, in the presence 
of proud beauty, becomes the veriest knight of gen- 
tility. She puts her hand upon the warrior, states- 
man, poet, earth's mightiest magnates, and as a lit- 



284 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

tie child " leadeth them whithersoever she listeth." 
It is so here, there, everywhere, her God-given 
power to guide us though we govern, " to lead us, 
though she follows." 



CHAPTER XL. 

HANDSHAKING. — CUTTING TREES OUT OF THE 
PATH. — CIGARETTE SMOKING. 

Let us now speak of another custom which is 
generally observed and prevails to such an extent 
that it is almost annoying. I refer to)t hat of hand- 
shaking. This would seem to be an innocent 
habit, but when practiced as they do, it often be- 
comes a nuisance. If they meet each other twenty 
times a day they must shake hands on meeting and 
shake hands on parting. It matters not how you 
may be circumstanced, or how inconvenient it may 
be to do so, yet he considers it a slight if you do 
not shake hands with him as often as he offers to 
do so during the day. The commonest peon with 
dirtiest hands must meet with the same kind of 
recognition, or else he is insulted and then insults 
you. I have seen ladies and gentleman seated at 
a dining table, when some messenger would come 
in to make some announcement or bring some note, 
and he must go all around the table and shake 
hands with the guests who had risen to receive 
him; and when he had finished his salutation after 

285 



286 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

this he would immediately go all around and shake 
hands with them again, saying to each one, "Adios" 
and then departs. It matters not how much the 
company may be disturbed by his uninteresting 
visit, he must " get his hand in " before he returns 
satisfied. Such is the custom of this part of the coun- 
try. Should one come into a store to buy a few cents' 
worth of things he must shake hands with the pro- 
prietors and the clerks as he enters, and repeat it as 
he leaves. 

Unless you have been subjected to this thing 
you can not imagine what a nuisance it becomes. 
A bow of recognition on frequently meeting is 
generally thought sufficient with most people to fill 
the requirements of politeness, but these fellows 
think it discourteous unless you make a pump- 
handle of their hands. 

If you meet them twenty times a day you know 
the programme and you must play it out, other- 
wise you forfeit their good feelings. This hand- 
shaking business is often attended with a kind of 
half embrace, male and female indulging in the 
habit. It is not exactly a hug, but a kind of " half 
hamond " approach to it — just enough in that direc- 
tion to be disappointing to those who were expect- 
ing it, or who loved such a demonstrative salutation. 
This they also do when they leave as well as when 
they arrive. While quite a number of them were 
going through a dress parade of this kind, an En- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 287 

glishman who had lived in the country a long time, 
and knew the Mexicans by heart, remarked to me, 
" You see all this foolishness ; it does n't mean any- 
thing." It is the shallowest pretense, the merest mock- 
ery of affection, the one for the other, and deserves 
to be remembered among the other hollow hypoc- 
ricies of the day. I have no respect for such vile 
shams, deceits under the guise of pretended friend- 
ship and affection. The fellow who is unusually 
demonstrative in his embrace, who will pat you 
two or three time on the back, watch out for him, 
and feel when he lets go if your watch and other 
valuables are still in your possession. If so, and 
you are traveling, he has missed his opportunity; 
but if he journeys with you after that you will be 
lucky if nothing is stolen from you. Under the 
garb of personal devotion, he is an arrant hypocrite, 
if not a thief or murderer. As I fear the " Greeks 
bringing gifts," so I fear these superlative manifes- 
tations of esteem. But enough on this topic. 

As you are traveling, you will often find that 
trees have fallen across the trail, and that great 
notches have been cut into them at the crossing, 
but seldom have they been " cut in two," and 
throwu aside. The reason of the thing is this, the 
Mexican does not wish to do more work than is 
absolutely necessary, has n't time you see, and there- 
fore he cuts down far enough in the log to enable 
his burro train to pass over it, and thus accom- 



288 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

plishes bis object. In tbis way be saves muscle 
and time, and tbe sooner goes his way rejoicing. 
The foolish American would do otherwise than the 
economic Mexican, but the latter is religiously op- 
posed to doing any more work than the present 
generation requires, and the future generations 
must take care of their own roads as well as them- 
selves. 

The practice of cigarette smoking exists no- 
where, perhaps, as it does here. The old and 
young of both sexes follow the practice. Boys and 
girls of tender years do the same. Tbe first thing on 
meeting is to take a smoke, the last thing is to 
take a smoke, and between times is to take many 
smokes. And thus the days and the nights, tbe 
months and the years, are filled up with much 
smoking. While the cigarettes come in packages, 
yet the Mexican seldom smokes them as received, 
but he prefers to unwrap them, and then in his 
artistic way reroll them before use. He will con- 
sume great numbers in one day, and while com- 
paratively cheap, yet the quantity makes up a con- 
siderable aggregate. Of course the injurious effects 
can not be calculated, but must be very great when 
the habit is so general. It matters not what he 
may be doing, if he wishes to smoke he drops 
everything and smokes. The time employed in 
preparing his cigarette is just that much time out 
of which he cheats his employer, and this many 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 289 

times repeated in the day is no inconsiderable 
amount. If the importance of the matter demands 
much haste, this does not in the least hasten the 
Mexican, except it may be to smoke the more fre- 
quently. You can't hurry him except with the 
prospect of an early smoke, and this often repeated. 
I imagine that in his fall down a shaft one of the 
sources of his regret would be that he can 't stop 
on the way and take a smoke. I know he would 
if he could. The urgency of business, uncertainty 
of life, imminency of death, never interferes with 
the enjoyment of his smoke. It is very aggravat- 
ing at times when so much may be depending upon 
prompt action, but the Mexican doesn't see it in 
that light, and he moves along as much undis- 
turbed at one time as another, as if he held in his 
hand a fee-simple to the centuries. I repeat, you 
just can 't expedite him out of his smoke, whatever 
may come to you or upon the land. He is ready 
for it, and will smoke away with supreme satisfac- 
tion, while you are filled towards him with supreme 
disgust. Why I verily believe that there are some 
of them who, if the life-blood of some member of 
the family were ebbing out from a cut artery, 
would not tie up the artery until they had first un- 
rolled and rewrapped their cigarrettes. Things 
may come and things may go, but cigarettes they 
will smoke forever. Cigars are not ignored, but 
as these are more costly they can not be bought in 
"l9 



290 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

much quantity by the poorest classes, who must 
content themselves with the less expensive cigar- 
ettes. The tobacco used is produced and manufac- 
tured in the country, and for the production of it 
there are some of the fiuest lands in the world, 
probably not even excelled by those of Cuba. 
With proper encouragement and tillage, it is only 
a question of time when these shall be made to 
yield to their owners and the government a large 
revenue. 



CHAPTER XLL 

RAWHIDES. — USES. — WOODEN PINS. — ADOBE 
HOUSES. — SANITATION. — DISEASES. 

But there is another thing which I must not 
omit to mention, and which is peculiar to the Mex- 
ican. I refer to his many uses of rawhides. This 
would, at first view, appear a small matter, yet in 
the business life of the Mexican, cuts no unimpor- 
tant figure. What he can 't do with this useful 
article is not worth doing. With it he yokes his 
oxen for the plough. With it he binds on his 
pack-mules their cargoes. Many articles he sews 
with it, and it is seldom he ever loses these stitches. 
His fence rails he will tie together with it, and for 
years and years it will weather the elements. The 
very rafters on his house he binds and holds in 
place with it for half a century. It dries and hard- 
ens, but does not seem to weaken. To a great ex- 
tent it supersedes pins and nails, is always on 
hand and purchased cheaply. A Mexican without 
rawhide is deprived of one of his chief resources, 
but with it his stock is nearly full. A good stock 
of rawhide is a good patrimony. While the rafters, 

291 



292 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

as stated, and the cross slats are tied with rawhide, 
yet the roof proper is put on with small wooden 
pins. These are used in the place of nails, and 
last a surprisingly long time, more than a quarter 
of a century. These pins are about five inches in 
length and made of pine. Nails are too high to be 
used for such purposes, costing here as much as 
thirty-seven and a half cents a pound ! Thus, you 
see, a few pounds of nails would break the ordinary 
Mexican, and consequently, instead of driving 
nails " he sets his pegs." But he is not fastidious 
about his roof; like the story of the man seen by 
the Arkansas Traveler, when it rains he can *t fix 
it, and when it don 't, he does n't need it. 

And here in this connection I might remark that 
the architecture of the mountain is inferior to the 
designs furnished by Sir Christopher Wren. The 
houses are made of adobes, large sundried bricks, 
one story, and on the top, from Avail to wall, laid 
transversely are rows of poles, and these all covered 
with dirt one or two feet thick, and over this comes 
the roof proper of thin pine boards. The houses are 
warm in winter and cool in summer, and well 
adapted to the warm countries. In many places 
there is great scarcity of timber, and these houses 
are made from necessity, but they are often made 
where timber is obtainable. 

The construction of dwellings has no little bear- 
ing upon their sanitation, but as to this matter the 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 293 

common Mexican has no ideas whatever. He 
knows nothing ol the laws of health, and your 
efforts to teach him these, were you so inclined, 
would be misspent time. The thought would be 
too big to find a lodgment in his cranium. His 
dress does not vary with the seasons. I have seen 
tbem often with the thinnest white cotton pants 
and without shoes, when the snow was several 
inches on the ground. The zarape, a single 
blanket, is the only bed-clothing with which they 
are provided, let the weather be as it may. Often 
he will wrap himself up in this and fall upon the 
cold ground, without fire, " and sleep the gentle 
hours away." In the coldest weather you will find 
them sitting around in the sunshine with their 
blankets wrapped around them, concealing the 
whole body except the head. The little barefooted 
children pass through the same hardships, endure 
the same privations. But these things do not 
prove their exemption from disease, but only their 
ignorant, reckless mode of living. The fact is but 
few have perfect health. I think it no exaggera- 
tion to say that the majority have inherited vitiated 
blood ; and then long exposure has developed the 
seeds of many ailments. They are forever wanting 
some prescription, some medicine to take, and the 
first inquiries upon the arrival of a new American 
is if he is a doctor. They will take anything you 
will give them, if you call it some kind of " doc- 



294 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 



tor's stuff/' and express much confidence in the 
efficacy of the potion, and say nothing as to payment 
for the same. If but little is the matter with them, 
their groans are noisy in the extreme ; but when 
seriously injured, I have seen them submit to surgi- 
cal treatment causing great pain, without scarcely 
wincing. I have assisted in some of these opera- 
tions, and under the torture of a blunt needle they 
scarcely flinched. They know nothing as to diet in 
sickness or health, except to take what is given 
them, and never changing the quantity. Personal 
cleanliness is one of the lost virtues, and this con- 
tributes no little to the increased bills of mortality. 
Uncleanliness, superadded to bad living and great 
exposure, makes a heavy death rate in the health- 
iest localities. 

Were not the water supply in quantity and qual- 
ity so good, and the air so pure, their habits of life 
would kill them in greater numbers. Filth and 
stench fill their hovels, and the wonder is how 
they survive so long the unwholesome conditions. 
When attacked by fevers they do not show that 
tenacity of life which so many possess, but suc- 
cumb to their influence in a brief period. They 
do not possess the constitutional power of long re- 
sistance to the inroads of disease. The precautions 
against unhealthfulness are scarcely known, or if 
known then unrecognized. Even in the most pop- 
ulous cities the sewerage system is most imperfect 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 295 

and little understood. And to-day, for instance, 
the city of Mexico, which should be one of the 
healthiest places of the world, is far otherwise. It 
is only very recently that anything like sanitary 
reform has made any headway, but even as yet to 
such a little extent that the death rate percentage 
continues alarming. However, some project is now 
on foot, I learn, to drain that city on a scale and 
in a manner commensurate with the importance 
and magnitude of the undertaking. Some scien- 
tific engineers and sanitary experts are engaged in 
the great enterprise, and it seems the necessary 
means have been already furnished, or satisfactory 
arrangements have been made to secure them. But 
so stupeudous is the undertaking that years must 
pass before its accomplishment. Chills and fever 
are rarely known on the mountains. Now and 
then one is developed after the person had sojourned 
for some time in a warmer latitude and then comes 
here; but they seldom originate so high above 
the sea level. Colds and the ailments in conse- 
quence of cutaneous affections and blood poisons 
prevail to a great extent. In some sections sore 
eyes, in others goitres predominate. These goitres 
are not unknown in the United States, almost 
every practicing physician has seen them, but here 
the singular phenomenon is presented that in some 
neighborhoods nearly every other person is so af- 
fected. It is an enlargement of the neck ; seems 



296 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 



to be an engorgement of the blood vessels, as if 
contained in some kind of a sac, and has the ap- 
pearance of an excrescence, and if not painful, at 
least quite inconvenient. The young and old of 
both sexes are similarly affected. Why it should 
prevail in certain localities so much more than in 
other places, is said to be on account of the charac- 
ter of the water. This, at least, is the reason as- 
cribed, but whether well founded or not, I am not 
able to say. The water, it is said, in these places 
possesses such constituents as are favorable to the 
outgrowth of these things. It is at least an inter- 
esting study, worthy of the investigation of the 
medical expert and scientist. Upon examination it 
may be ascertained that there are certain other 
local causes which induce their origin. 



CHAPTEK XLIL 

YELLOW FEVER.— SMALL-POX.— MOUNTAIN DOCTOR. 

Some of the coast cities of Mexico are, at times, 
visited by that dreadful scourge, the yellow fever. 
Guy mas Mazatlan and Vera Cruz have, from time 
to time, felt its severest visitations. Culiacan, a 
city interior from the Pacific coast some forty miles, 
has also suffered much from its being carried thither 
from the sea ports. The seed brought and planted 
in a bed of filth, under a hot sun, germinate rap- 
idly, spread alarmingly, and kill frightfully. J.f 
the conditions are favorable, the sun and the germ 
soon start the pestilence on its mission of death — 
when the conditions are predisposing the germ in- 
troduced is the explosive spark. The smallpox 
sometimes visits these denizens of the mountains, 
and in numbers sweeps them into the grave. Their 
imprudence is such that they perish numerously 
and rapidly. Again there is a want of proper med- 
ical attention in such cases, and ignorance and 
neglect run up the figures of mortality. Having 
now alluded to the sanitation of the country, and 
to some of its prevailing diseases, it may not be 

297 



298 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 



amiss to refer to that professional character known 
as the " mountain doctor." I have spoken hereto- 
fore in reference to the " mountain lawyer," and it 
would hardly be just now to leave the " mountain 
doctor" and his characteristics unchronicled. And 
here I would preface my introduction to him by 
saying that my remarks apply more particularly to 
the native u medicine man." Now and then 
an intelligent foreign physician may be found, 
but rarely a native. In all my acquaintances 
I can now only recall one Mexican doctor in 
these parts that has anything like respectable at- 
tainments. He was a student at some medical 
school, and a man of much more than average in- 
telligence. Some of the American doctors here are 
models in their way, and subsist by a kind of pro- 
fessional bushwhacking. With his potions, and 
lotions, and lozenges, he coins his subsistence, cop- 
pers, and keeps the wolf, not from his door, but 
from eating him up. And in this he is lucky, for 
poor patrons, poor doctor. But of all places in the 
world for humbugging this must be the paradise. 
The doctor is a kind of neighborhood boss in most 
parts, and his counsels sought, which are given, 
too, in such weighty words and with such weighty 
emphasis, that they impress his hearers iiS but little 
short of the oracular. Here he is " El Capitan " 
of the whole gang. He carries no solemn -looking 
saddle-bags, nor pocket-cases, the relics of former 




THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 299 

times, but what he has is generally " done up in a 
rag." And when this comes out, the business pro- 
ceeds. This native of the woods shrinks not from 
the responsibility of human life, but he meets that 
responsibility like a man of courage, and his pa- 
tients, unlike those of Doctor Sangrado, in Gil 
Bias, die, but not according to " established prin- 
ciples." " Saul hath slain his thousands," but how 
many these fellows have killed will remain unre- 
vealed till the last day. These mountaineer prac- 
titioners "get in their work," notwithstanding the 
laws of the republic forbid any one from practicing 
medicine or pharmacy without a diploma from the 
government. Is not a useful hint here suggested 
by this legislation to our people by which the 
standard of the medical profession may be raised ? 
There is one good thing here for the people, and in 
this fact is the salvation of many, the fewness of 
these medical shysters. Were they more numerous 
the population would soon be decimated, and as it 
is, it takes the wonderful fecundity of the people 
to preserve the equilibrium between the living and 
the dead, the births and the deaths. He has a few 
native herbs and roots, and unpatented nostrums 
with which he medicates his faithful people. If 
they die, it is the act of Providence, if they live it 
is the mighty doctor ! Here and there among the 
little ones he shoves in his " teas and things," and 
with grave face and sage words retires to learn on 



300 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

to-morrow that the little sufferer " has joined the 
angel band." The old women regard him not 
only with admiration but affection, and in the con- 
templation of his stores ol knowledge, wonder how 
one small head contains it all. 

Among them " he weeds a broad row/' and while 
with them, from them he is loth to tear himself, 
but lives upon the " fat of the land." And why 
shouldn't he? They believe in him, and he, to 
return their confidence, receives their numerous fa- 
vors, but not " without fee or reward." He knows 
nothing as he ought to know it, and is simply the 
prince of humbugs. But is n't it strange that peo- 
ple will be deluded with such arrant frauds, such 
outspoken, self-advertised knaves? And yet they 
will be, will slip in and get remedies from such 
characteristic quacks, and somehow or other feel as 
if it were a good thing upon their regular physi- 
cian. They have saved a visit and taken a short 
cut to the restoration of their health ! But these 
fellows neither know the a b c's of their profession, 
nor some even the alphabet of their own language, 
and yet with a temerity only equalled by their stu- 
pidity, essay the healing art. They are not so bad 
in surgical cases, for malpractice here " leaves its 
wreck behind." Their favorite cases are those 
which sweetly sink to rest, and " give no 
sign," and leave no trace of the professional cun- 
ning. But there are humbugs in every profession, 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 301 

but I reckon the acreage is larger in the medical than 
in any other. There is more privacy, more oppor- 
tunity /or concealment, and fewer opportunities for 
exposure. He does his work, and the work is done, 
and that is the last of it. No public board to 
which he must go and answer, but to the family 
residence, and not beyond. Nothing but praises 
follow his good practice, but his mistakes are buried 
with his patients, who " softly lie and sweetly 
sleep low, low in the ground." The practice of 
the lawyer is more exposed to public scrutiny. 
And the public, knowing gold and baser metals 
when they see them, seldom fail to give due fine- 
ness and weight. Their mistakes live to proclaim 
their demerits, and lessen their influence. The 
charges of these doctors, or rather, I should say, 
empirics, is not according to any known schedule, 
but they are a tariff as well as a law unto them- 
slves, and what they do n't get rs not for the reason 
that they have not charged it. Perhaps they remem- 
ber the words of Shakespeare, " that we lose much by 
not asking for it." They will die with no regrets 
on this score, by reason, in a word, of having in a 
pang of conscience placed an undue estimate upon 
their pre-eminent service ! For the real good he 
may do in a case of sickness, I would as soon 
place myself in the hands of the Voodoo doctor, 
with his rabbit foot, snake rattles, cat hair and 
owls' ears, with which to exorcise the spirit of the 



302 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

disease, or drive it away as a necromancer with his 
medical incantations. But he lives according to 
the law of supply and demand. Unless there was 
a demand for his wares, he would not supply them, 
but he will supply them as long as there is a de- 
mand for them. And there will be a demand until 
ignorance goes, and intelligence comes to stay. 
And this shall come to pass when the mountain 
tops shall greet the sunlight of the millennial 
morn. 

Here I should not fail to note one peculiarity 
about the Mexican. It matters not how he may 
be injured or disordered, he must tie up his head ! 
If his arm, leg or foot is cut he must bandage his 
head, whether the injured member is bandaged or 
not. If his stomach, kidneys, liver or " melt " is 
disordered, he must put up some unbruised green 
leaves, or other tomfoolery, in a rag and then tie 
this to his senseless noddle. In this he regards the 
head as the seat of the ailment, whether constitu- 
tional or local, and with him, I reckon, it is true, 
for the poor fellow's head is terribly befogged, and 
we may, without any diagnosis, reasonably conclude 
he suffers much from that "aching void." So 
whether he has the toothache or toeache it is all 
the same — " binding on his head." 

Now, in the large cities, I learn that there are 
some eminent physicians, excellent surgeons, men 
who have qualified themselves at the best schools in 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 303 

Europe and America, and are real ornaments to 
their profession and benefactors to the race. But 
of this class I am not writing, and leave them to 
their well-earned reputation. But my pen is after 
these mountain medical bandits, who cause you not 
to stand and deliver, but place you on your back, 
and then take both life and purse. These are the 
shameless wretches who deserve the most stinging 
excoriations. But as of these I have now given 
you a charcoal sketch, I leave them with you, that 
you may think more charitably of them than the 
writer can'^hope to do. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

SERVANTS. — GALA DAYS. — POPULATION. — FE- 
CUNDITY. 

These sketches would be incomplete were I not' 
to say something as to the servants of the country. 
This is a matter of considerable moment, as well 
here as in other parts of the world. The peace and 
prosperity of the household depend in no little 
measure upon this branch of the domestic economy. 
Here what is wanting in efficiency in the individual 
servant is sought to be supplemented by the num- 
bers employed. And the numbers engaged, as a 
matter of course, vary according to the pleasure or 
caprice of the employers. The poorest families 
think it necessary to have from one) to three to do 
a minimum service, and give a little stylejto the de- 
cayed family. Those in little better circumstances 
must have a few more servants to share with the 
family their meagre rations, and help hold up the 
family escutcheon. Those who are well to do in 
the world have a regular retinue of servants ; as 
many sometimes as from twelve to fifteen, and the 
more they have the less valuable they are, as they 
304 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 305 

are in each other's way. But then this is thought 
to be the proper thing for a gentleman of means, 
and less than this fails to catch the appreciation of 
his acquaintances. When one of these grandees 
moves through the country his approach appears 
like the vanguard of a caravan. He has one ser- 
vant to attend to his stock, another to cook the 
meat, another to grind the corn, another to make 
tortillas, and so on, assigning a separate servant to 
the discharge of a separate duty. The one must 
not interfere with the other in the performance of 
his task, but every man attends to his own busi- 
ness. The female servants are similarly looked 
after, and, in view of the multitude, it is a 
tolerably " happy family." The servants here 
are not altogether so exacting as in some parts of 
the United States. They do not demand, as a con- 
dition precedent to continued service, that the mis- 
tress of the house shall furnish them with a piano 
and the parlor during certain evenings of the week, 
for the exclusive entertainment of their visitors. 
They do not bargain in advance that the humble 
proprietress shall not give them any of her " slack 
jaw " if ill pleased with their household manage- 
ment, which, during their reign, must be entirely 
entrusted to them. 

She does not undertake to give the head of the 
house " her place," and around it draw the cordon 
of her authority, and, beyond which, if the lady 

20 



306 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

thoughtlessly ventures, she is considered a tres- 
passer, and, unless apologies are made and received, 
she gathers her things, and, with the air of a queen, 
marches forth, shaking the dust from her feet " as 
a testimony against that house. " The thing is bet- 
ter managed here than that ; and fewer " scenes " 
transpire to disturb the harmony of the household. 
A lady with three or four children will often have 
a nurse for each child, and then one or two house 
servants, in addition to the cook and assistant, and 
one or two errand boys. And it is thought that 
they can not get along with a less number and sup- 
port the dignity of the old family name. And even 
this is so when they are, from sheer necessity, com- 
pelled to live upon about the poorest the land af- 
fords. People often compel their stomachs to pay 
tribute to their backs, but here a change takes 
place, and the stomach is sacrificed to the love of 
display. I reckon this is carrying the thing about 
as far as it can well be done without earning a 
straight jacket and a home in an asylum for luna- 
tics. These servants do not improve each other by 
association, for the blind can not lead the blind, and 
it is only stupidity mixed, confusion confounded. 
In many instances the difficulty is, not to retain 
them, for they are not possessed of such sensitive 
natures as American servants, but to get rid of 
them. It is true they sometimes leave without 
note or warning, but this is the exception to the 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 307 

rule, for they must live somewhere, in order to get 
something to eat, and, when once well settled, they 
are disinclined to change their abode. The wages re- 
ceived, too, are not so high as to permit many lux- 
uries in the way of living, dress, or travel. The 
number of the faithful are few, but that of the un- 
faithful many. 

I must not omit some account of Mexican patri- 
otism, as it is displayed on gala days. The 16th 
of September is the anniversary of Mexican inde- 
pendence, when they whipped the French army and 
overthrew the Empire of Maximilian. They com- 
menced this year its celebration on the 15th, 
continued it through the 16th and concluded it 
on the 17th of the month. In the mean time, 
you may say, that all business was suspended, ex- 
cept liquor selling, and the streets, for a portion of 
the time given up to drunken revelers, imperiling 
the safety of those who dared to venture upon them. 
It would seem, to come up to the patriotic stand- 
ard, one must become patriotically drunk, and the 
more frequent, and the longer he remains in this 
condition, the more intensely does he manifest his 
love of country. Country often requires sacrifices, 
and these choose to make them in this way. It is 
a singular exhibition of loyalty, but one now incor- 
porated in the custom of this portion of the coun- 
try. It coniorms to the tastes and conceptions of 
the people, and, while we may not admire the mode 



308 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

of these commemorations, yet, in heart, we applaud 
the sentiment which induces their observance. On 
this national anniversary, many speeches are made 
by the fiery young orators xrom improvised stands, 
decorated with the national colors; songs are sung, 
and salvos thunder forth. Music is heard on every 
side, and the national air is encored time and again. 
The Mexican air is charged with an electric patri- 
otism, breathed and felt by all classes. Nor is the 
" small boy " wanting to fill up his part in the ex- 
ercises of the day, and give eclat to the anniversary 
display. The 16th of September here, is the 
Fourth of July in the United States, as formerly 
celebrated, characterized by many of the same 
excesses in speech and song and conduct. 
As time passes, these things will be suc- 
ceeded by fewer extravagances, and give way 
to more temperate exercises and better reflec- 
tions. 

Here a few observations as to the population of 
the country may not be out of place. The popula- 
tion has increased but little in many years. Until 
within the last decade the immigration has been 
very small, but, of more recent years, this has con- 
siderably increased under the encouragement given 
by the government. Again, the loss of population 
from the continued revolutions which agitated the 
country, was very great. For many years it was 
exceptional when there was not some conflict rag- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 309 

ing in some part of the land. The victims of these 
perpetual strifes were very numerous ; so much so 
as to weaken the physical forces of the country, and 
retard its growth in population and power. Had 
not the birth rate been very high, the losses from 
the causes stated must have been seriously felt. In 
these mountains, often in the same household, fif- 
teen and twenty children may be seen, having the 
same parents. Even by the same parents, twenty 
odd children, in some places, are not considered an 
extra allowance of the domestic bounties. In fact, 
I knew one man, a shriveled, attenuated ^specimen, 
who claimed the paternity of thirty children, living 
and dying with a serene satisfaction that he had 
"multiplied and replenished the earth." While, as 
stated in some former chapter, the mortality among 
them is great for many reasons ; yet, if reasonable 
chances were given them, the wars having ceased, 
the land would soon be filled with the increase 
from the native population. This presupposes to 
some extent, however, more personal care, cleanli- 
ness, and a better recognition of the laws of health 
than are now observed. Better education in the 
future will bring better sanitation, and this will les- 
sen the list of mortality and lengthen the period of 
longevity. As human life depends so much upon 
the mode of living, I may be permitted to make a 
few remarks additional to those made in some 
former chapter. Exercise, eating, sleeping, dress 



310 TEE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

ing and drinking, are those things on which, more 
than all others, health depends. As to some of 
these we have already sufficiently remarked. The 
ordinary Mexican, with plenty to eat, is not dis- 
posed to indulge in violent exercise. Under such 
conditions he prefers the sunny side of some house, 
where, in the ascending fumes of his cigarette, he 
can build his castles in the air. With an empty 
stomach, he will follow a band of vagrant musi- 
cians, with the hope that, by quenching his thirst, 
his appetite may be satisfied. The land lies un- 
tilled before him, which would yield an abundant 
supply at his invitation, but he lies and gently 
slumbers on the top of a rock, wooed by its warmth 
to fairy land, where hunger never troubles and 
cares never come. Let him eat and let him sleep, 
and things as now may go on forever. He will 
neither start nor change a current, but, with folded 
arms, will flow on with the stream, he knows 
and cares not whither. To think is to exer- 
cise, and hence he prefers not to think, for he cares 
not to labor, and thus break his rest. He 
rightly calculates that his life is short at best, 
and, in the measure of his days, would com- 
press as much solid rest as possible. This is an 
inkling of his ideas of exercise, and how it 
should be indulged so as to bring to him the 
most substantial good, and compact comfort. Others 
may hurry to and fro, here and there, up and 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 



311 



down the earth, something to make, and turn, 
and change, but he serenely sees them pass, 
and from bis labors rests, ere his labors have 
begun. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

TOURNAMENT IN SOUTH. — SOME OF OUR OWN FOL- 
LIES COMPARED WITH THOSE OF THE MEXICAN. 

While upon the follies of the Mexican I have 
written in a vein of harmless irony, yet we must 
remember our own people have not been at all 
times wholly free from criticism. But we are prone 
to see in others Avhat we fail to see in ourselves, 
the mote is bigger than the beam. But to be con- 
sistent we " shoot folly as it flies," whether in our 
own land or out of it. We can but smile a good- 
natured smile when we recall some of the scenes 
witnessed in the South soon after the late war. 
The habits of the people had so long been fixed 
that it was with extreme difficulty they could ac- 
commodate themselves to the changed conditions 
of life. In numbers from the neighboring farms 
they would repair to the country depots on Satur- 
day mornings, and there pass the entire day in 
profitless games and follies, to the neglect of their 
growing crops. An old man in faded black, with 
the bloodless prefix of " Col" to his name, and 
three grown boys in " store clothes," might have 
312 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 313 

been seen superintending one little stumpy negro 
digging a post-hole for the new gate made by the 
colored mechanic. Had you asked the old gentle- 
man how he was getting on, he would have replied, 
"O, not at all, sir, not at all; the labor is wholly 
demoralized, not worth a continental." The last 
word of the sentence is here suppressed by reason 
of its inelegant strength. And the boys would 
heartily have seconded the statement of their father 
while their hands were in their breeches pockets, 
and they squirted tobacco juice towards the hole 
being dug by the aforesaid little negro. Ask them 
about the crop in the spring of the year and they 
would have said, " O, you can 't get the negroes to 
work; labor no 'count, sir; it is all in the grass, 
and I fear old Uncle Peter will have to ' turn out ' 
some of his crop, the old man just can 't keep up with 
it." At this very time, at the little depot near by, 
had lain the tombstones of his father and mother 
for many months, not able to pay the freight and 
take them to the cemetery. The depot agent, on 
several occasions, had spoken to the boys about the 
marble slabs and asked them to take them away, 
but they had replied that he would have to wait 
until the crop was gathered and sold first. That 
referred to old Uncle Peter's patch. Again, when 
addressed upon the subject, one of them replied, 
"Just let them stay there for the present; they are 
not hurting, and the old folks do n't need the slabs 



314 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

as bad as we need the money right now, and it 
will all be right after awhile anyway." 

This, too, was the season of the tournament, and 
this in preparation took up a good deal of time, or 
rather I should say, it did look like work inter- 
fered with almost every kind of enjoyment, if they 
would have permitted it, which they didn't. "O, 
that riding tournament " was a big thing in that 
time. The young men from far and near, fancifully 
dressed, dubbed themselves knights with chivalric 
names, resurrecting some of the heroes of medieval 
ages. They carried long poles in their hands, 
yclept in the nomenclature of chivalry lances, and 
with these poles astride their mettled chargers they 
sought, under full speed, to poke the rings from 
the posts planted on the outer edge of the amphi- 
theater. The best poker punched off the most 
rings, and thus the hero of the hour received the 
huzzas of the crowd. Some simple girl was 
crowned by him as queen of " Love and Beauty." 
The Rozinantes ridden upon the occasion had been 
browsing on native grass, but for this exhibition had 
been rounded up a little on bought corn. The 
boys went into the sport with an able-bodied fervor 
— with the spirit of the Knight of La Mancha — 
while admiring Kebeccas gazed on the rivals for 
their hands with bright eyes and soft hearts. Such 
a pity there is no Walter Scott to write their ex- 
ploits, their windmill expeditions, and thus embalm 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 315 

in history those modern heroes of chivalry ! Many 
of the boys amusingly pronounced the word tour- 
nament, as if it were written t-e-r-n-a-ment with 
the emphasis on the last syllable, in absolute 
contempt and utter defiance of orthoepy. Old 
women sometimes called it " torninent." But I 
must now forbear. Enough has been written to 
soften the heart of my Mexican friend to prove 
that he is not alone in his weaknesses and follies. 
Glass houses are poor fortresses to stone throwers. 
However, while my own countrymen are not free 
from faults, it is due to truth and justice to say 
that those of the Mexican — of the proletaire class 
— are so numerous and so general that not to notice 
them in a good-humored way would be violence to 
the true character of this people. I would not 
knowingly caricature them, but paint them as I 
see them with their vices and their virtues. I write 
not in malice, nor much with u Attic salt/' but a 
little satire now and then will poison no one's joy, 
and may correct a wrong. 



CHAPTER XLV. 

SCENERY. — ROCKS. — MOUNTAINS. — FLOWERS. — AT- 
MOSPHERE. — MOUNTAIN TORRENT. — RAINBOW 

SCENES. 

In the past I have said bat little as to the scen- 
ery of Mexico, as viewed in the mountains. Of 
course, different localities present an endless variety 
of scenery. The great plains outstretching to the 
farthest verge of vision until the mountains come 
down and wall them in, are scenes at the loveliness 
and grandeur of which the pen falters, and the 
pencil falls. On these broad acres thousands of 
cattle may be seen, lazily feeding upon the luxuri- 
ant grass. In the far distance some winding stream 
may be traced for miles and miles by its iringe of 
trees. Now and then, to diversify the landscape, 
herds of antelope may be seen far off quietly graz- 
ing. But to me these mountains have a greater 
charm, a wilder beauty. Ridges on ridges piled 
higher and higher, as you penetrate the interior, 
tell of nature's mighty throes in those upheavals of 
an early age. Here and there may be seen col- 
umns of rocks shooting upward hundreds of feet, 

316 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 317 

standing like grim -visage d sentinels at nature's 
gates. These I have sometimes seen crowned with a 
single loose stone, weighing thousands of pounds, 
resting like a crown on a monarch's brow. On it 
had fallen the rains and snows of centuries, around 
it had played the storms of long past ages. 

Far up the sides of these monumental rocks the 
verdure grew, plants and flowers found a rooting 
place, and thus here in the wild solitude, strength 
and beauty dwelt together. The mountains lift 
their heads for thousands of feet in the air, while 
they bathe their feet in rivers at their base. These 
rivers, through a long succession of epochs, have 
hewn their channels through the solid rock for 
hundreds and hundreds of feet in depth, and left 
the mountain side as an abrupt wall of rock, na- 
ture's solid masonry. From the rushing waters 
over immense boulders and cascades, the thunders 
leap, and the echo from the neighboring hills and 
canyons comes back to swell the grand minstrelsy 
in this temple of God. It is hardly a wonder that 
the ancients peopled the glens and grottoes with 
genii, the reigning spirits of such abodes. But 
here enter these grand amphitheatres of nature, 
and we feel that we are in the presence of some 
living spirit that awes us into silence and awakens 
a feeling akin to reverence, if not to worship. 
Communion with nature leads us heavenward. We 
withdraw from the petty strifes around us, and for 



318 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

the time observe with wonder and delight the 
beauty, and harmony, and glory of those unchang- 
ing laws which govern alike the tiniest atom, the 
travel of a star, the mighty universe. Here is 
beauty without a blemish, truth unmixed with 
error, strength without weakness, and all things in 
sweet accord moving to the u music of the spheres." 
Alone, we like to contemplate the wonders fash- 
ioned by the grand Architect, and strive to read 
within their revelations the purposes of their Au- 
thor. From earth the creature looks through 
them to heaven, to their Creator. No place have I 
ever seen like these mountains to arouse such 
thoughts, induce such meditations, and to see my 
own insignificance and the majesty of Superior 
Power. It is well for those who have never been, to 
go to the mountains, forget the things below, com- 
mune with higher spirits, and, for once, see trans- 
figured before them celestial shapes. They will 
then descend as if emerged from a new baptism, 
the better fitted to meet the fortunes and misfor- 
tunes of the future. Here not a sound is heard from 
a breathing thing, no voice save from the maddened 
waters and the hastening winds. You stand awe- 
inspired, a solitary listener to the strains of their 
wild melody. No silver-throated choristers warble 
their notes with this orchestra, but these fly away 
to quieter retreats and there raise their voices in 
exultant joy and praise. The waters are very 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 319 

bright and flash like polished mirrors in the sun- 
light, while in their depths disport schools of the 
finny tribe. Often as you ascend the mountains, 
you will find the oak, small, gnarled, like stunted 
undergrowth, so that when mounted, and by its 
side, your head will be higher than its tallest 
bough. But ascending further you leave the oaks 
behind, and come within the zone of the pines 
which flourish in the higher altitudes. The soli- 
tary traveler, listening near nightfall to the winds 
sighing through them, is reminded of some sad 
dirge in the memory of by-gone years. Then the 
distant light, the gathered flock, the barking dog, 
are welcome sights and sounds to him, for soon 
and near a shelter is found, and the day's journey 
is ended. The curtain of night does not shut out 
the music from those harps of pine, but once shut 
within, there is somehow a securer feeling, and 
when stretched for rest the sad refrain heard 
through the openings seem the sooner to waft the 
spirit into dreamland. 

The number and variety of the wild-flowers are 
few, and these, though beautiful to view, seldom 
exhale an odor — have no incense offering. We 
seldom see the climbing vines as in the lowlands, 
tieing themselves higher and higher as they grow, 
but the modest creeper in this place dwarfed by the 
frigid earth. Standing on some lofty Pisgah and 
straining the vision beyond, the intervening moim- 



320 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

tains look like great billows suddenly fixed on a 
great sea. Nothing greets the eye but the sky 
above, the eternal mountains ahead, no change save 
a variety of form. The omnipresent mountains, 

" Many as the billows, but one as the sea." 

The atmosphere at times is most remarkably 
transparent ; great distances, in fact, appear com- 
pressed into short spaces. So clear is this that the 
stars at times have a familiar nearness, and these 
jewels of night flash with unwonted radiance. 
More beautiful than words can tell when earth is 
filled with the golden sheen, it is here, to see the 
moon leading her " virgin host far up the eastern 
sky," and then adown its western slope, till light 
is lost in darkness. In the valley below I have 
watched with rapture the ascending moon, first ap- 
pearing as a silver crescent upon the mountain's 
brow, with its pencilings of light; a little later, full 
orbed, it burst in view and filled the world around 
me with its effulgent glory. At times in midwin- 
ter, when cold and clear, the heavens seemed al- 
most afire with the pyrotechnics of the stars, lumi- 
nous from their scintillations. The silence that 
prevails adds to the impressiveness of the scene, no 
voice, save, perchance, the sound of a distant water- 
fall. But how noiseless are the greatest forces in 
nature. Gravitation holds in harmony the revolv- 
ing suns and sytems. The pent-up internal fires 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 321 

are unseen, unfelt, save where an earthquake starts, 
or the sea is lifted into mountains, or the moun- 
tains sunk into the sea. Electricity, that subtle 
agent which pervades all things, is hardly known, 
save in the manifestations of its power. And so it 
is I have looked upon such scenes as faintly de- 
scribed, until I stood speechless in the presence of 
their sublimity. When I gazed about and around 
me I saw evidence of a Supreme Power, and when 
I gazed upward to the stars, with Newton I could 
say : 

" The undevout astronomer is mad." 

These are some of the mountain scenes one may 
witness and carry their impression with him 
through life. Some less poetical than others see 
these things with scarcely more than ordinary emo- 
tions, while others, with a little coloring of the 
imagination, invest them with the gorgeousness of 
a dream. To me the reality is sufficiently distinct 
and impressive to excite my homage and wonder, 
and an earnest wish that others might share with 
me the enthusiasm, inspired by such visions of 
grandeur and loveliness. 

There is another thing here which, to be appre- 
ciated, must be seen. I now refer to the mountain 
torrent, and which only comes in what is termed 
the rainy season. This commences about the 20th 
of June and ends about the first week in October, 

21 



322 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

During the interval there is scarcely a day in which 
it does not rain, sometimes but little, and then 
again as if the fountains of the upper deep were 
broken up. The heavy fall may be far up the 
canyon, and the first intimation of its approach will 
be a sudden, fearful roaring, and then a high black 
column, rolling and surging in its maddened fury, 
sweeping everything before it in its headlong 
march. The grinding rocks in the seething waters, 
as they go tumbling along, may be heard a great 
distance above the din of the dashing torrent. The 
watershed of the mountain is so precipitous that 
the waters are collected and poured down as through 
a funnel, carrying death to every living thing in its 
pathway. At times only a few minutes are suffi- 
cient to cause the avalanches of water, for they 
come down in volumes, as if being emptied from 
inverted buckets. Generally the fury is of short 
duration, the clouds retire, the sun comes forth, 
and nature smiles again. One of the loveliest 
scenes I ever beheld was a rainbow on the moun- 
tains. The sun dying in the west, was struggling 
with the falling raindrops, when there appeared in 
the east a magnificent rainbow, with deepest colors, 
and with its extremities resting on separate moun- 
tains. These, with their broad shoulders, seemed 
to uphold this celestial arc bent from mountain to 
mountain. I thought its form and colors never so 
beautiful before ; the storm had passed, and there it 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 323 

stood in the heavens, an emblem and a promise. 
From the chambers of memory came the lines of 
Campbell : 

" 'T is the bow of Omnipotence bent in His hand, 
His grasp at creation the universe spanned, 
'T is the presence of God in symbol sublime, 
His vow from the flood to the exit of time." 

Soon the sun sank to rest, the jewelled raindrops 
ceased to fall, and the beautiful apparition vanished 
away, and I was left to muse on its " faded loveli- 
ness." Thus seen spanning the intervening chasm, 
bent in glorious beauty from mountain to mountain, 
made it for earth's pilgrims the arch of a gorgeous 
gateway to brighter realms beyond. But it was a 
picture that I shall long remember, and never else- 
where hope to see again, having its extremes rest- 
ing on the pillared mountains. Doubtless the im- 
mediate surroundings framed the scene in greater 
splendor, and photographed ineffaceably the picture. 
But that one must be unpoetic, unsentimental, in- 
deed, who could not enjoy a scene like that. Al- 
most as cold and utilitarian as the one, who, when 
asked how he enjoyed a view of Niagara, seen for 
the first time, replied he saw nothing in that, except 
a great waste of icater power ! If any of my read- 
ers are so intensely practical as that one, then I shall 
lament a recital of the rainbow scene described. 



CHAPTER XLVL 

COOKINGS- 
EDIBLES. — HOGS. 

Often the stomach is the door to the heart. Once 
in possession of the former there is a broad avenue 
to the latter. This is so well understood by adroit 
housewives, who would raid the plethoric exchequer 
of their liege lords, that, as a preparatory move- 
ment, they first give substantial satisfaction to the 
appetite and then they pass on to ulterior con- 
quests. They first seize the lines of approach and 
then they carry the fortress by assault. A hungry 
man seldom grants favors, or, if done, seldom grace- 
fully granted ; but break this hunger down, and his 
rebellious nature melts, and favors flow, for he then 
feels as if u he was at peace with all the world and 
the balance of mankind. " A hungry man is rarely 
a happy one, but to make him happy, first satisfy 
his appetite, and frowns are followed by smiles and 
joys chase cares away. This is the observation, if 
not the experience, of nearly all. But the culinary 
art is the very handmaid of happiness. Bad cook- 
ing means bad digestion, bad temper, household dis' 
324 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 325 

turbance, and too often domestic infelicity. No 
one can calculate the consequences of an ill-cooked 
steak. It may unseal the fountain of domestie dis- 
cord, to be followed by estrangement, separation 
and disgrace. The trite maxim has no more appo- 
site application than when applied to cooking, 
" What is worth doing, is worth doing well." 

While by no means epicurean in my tastes, but 
far otherwise, yet I must say that the Mexican 
cooks I have seen will not favorably compare with 
those of any other nation seen by me. It takes 
many to do the work of one, and when done we 
feel, " would it were done otherwise." As for 
cleanliness, I prefer not to speak in the main, but 
as I have heard that it has been decreed that each 
one should, in his life, eat a peck of dirt, I will 
only add if that be true, then this must be a short- 
lived people, as this quantity is early obtained. 
But in this respect I must say I feel I have been 
specially blessed, living for much of the time in the 
neatest and best of families, and consequently fear 
no early demise from the cause stated. The cooked 
mixtures sometimes served are puzzles to the unin- 
itiated. Onions and pepper are their favorite veg- 
etables. The former are cooked with almost 
everything brought to the table. It is in the soup, 
in the rice, and, occasionally, cooked with eg^s. I 
have seen them cooked in deserts, puddings ! 
Onions in puddings — what a compound ! But a 



326 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

dish more generally eaten than any other is meat 
cooked with red pepper, called " chile con carne." 
It is perfectly red, and, at times, even strong 
enough to sear the throat in its downward passage. 
Should tears come in the effort to eat it, just let 
them flow, but go on with the mastication. In 
this, as in all other things (perseverantia omnia 
vincit), 'perseverance overcomes all things. It is 
truly wonderful how the human system will accom- 
modate itself to such edibles, but it does, and 
survives the burning ordeal. I have seen the red 
pepper pods cooked themselves, and these are eaten 
with a great relish. They are fried or baked, and 
have the appearance of cooked tomatoes. These, 
I have thought, are not so strong, so fiery as the 
red pepper we find in the States, and hence, the 
eater survives his meal. This red pepper is served 
with dried jerked beef, and I must say makes it 
more palatable, " When the dose is given in mod- 
erate quantities." There is a plant called the " cal- 
abasa," the flowers of which are eaten as a species of 
salad. These are highly esteemed by the natives, 
but contain little nutriment, and are almost taste- 
less. They belong to the pumpkin family, but not 
so succulent as these. Sometimes the melon is 
cooked with sugar, baked, and then it is endurable, 
but always with the idea (when eating) that it is a 
vegetable fraud. The meats for sale are cut in 
strings, running with, and not "across the grain." 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 327 

The hog is'Jnever put up in bacon ; they do not un- 
derstand the art of curing this, but he is cut up in 
strips, and out of these lard is made, and such parts 
as have no fatty substance are converted into sau- 
sage meat, thoroughly charged with red pepper and 
other " taking ingredients." This, when somewhat 
advanced in age, in smell, has the strength of the 
sepulcher. Bat some folks like it, and so they do 
putrid meat, and hence, at last, it is a mere differ- 
ence of taste, for which, it is said, there is " no ac- 
counting." Some few of the rancheros make 
cheese, some of it is moderately good, and some of 
it, to be known, should bring a letter of introduc- 
tion, as unaided without identification, it must re- 
main an indefinable compound. Such a treatment 
has it received, I am sure the honest cow, could 
she recognize the metamorphosis through which 
her milk has gone, would bellow a disclaimer of 
the frfidulent substance. 

Eggs and potatoes are cooked as elsewhere, and 
have this advantage, that when served with their 
natural coverings, the interior remain unaffected by 
unclean vessels and dirty handling. But eggs are 
so eagerly sought by the peon owners of hens that, 
as a fact, I have sometimes seen them chased and 
caught, that manipulation might verify the antici- 
pated outlay. Here hens must do their duty, and 
not triflle too long with the patience of their pro- 
prietors. The Mexican thinks they go to bed early, 



328 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

and at the dawn of day must alight and bestir 
themselves the task of a daily contribution to the 
family supplies. While disposed to be idle him- 
self he submits to no idleness in the farm yard ; 
there is too much at stake, a little dereliction here 
is too vitally important to his peace and health. 
He keeps none other than business hens, for, when 
they cease to perform, but, as widow hens, become 
envious of the attentions of rival chanticleers, he kills 
and eats them without a pang or scruple. There 
are a few berries in the mountains — raspberries and 
strawberries — the former mature in August and 
September. Were these cultivated they would be 
very fine, but like tomatoes, they are found wild in 
woods. Peaches are seldom permitted to ripen on 
the trees, but are pulled and eaten green by the na- 
tives. And the quantities they cm " store away '' 
would amaze an eastern fruit-gatherer. The to- 
matos found in the woods are very small and infe- 
rior in quality, but from good seed I have seen a 
superior species flourish here. 

Milk is but sparingly used, and, from long train- 
ing, " Biddy " puts herself in position to have her 
hind legs tied to undergo the milking operation. 
Her master and mistress have no faith in her heels, 
and adopt this precautionary measure to avoid inju- 
ries and los-es. The cattle, while of no improved 
breed, are yet belter than one would be led to ex- 
pect, and equally as good as the stump tail steer 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 329 

chased through the pine thickets, referred to by 
Governor Henry A. Wise, in an agricultural ad- 
dress delivered some years since before his fellow 
Virginians. But few sheep are raised, and these 
by the Indians, who are more pastoral in their tastes 
and pursuits than the Mexicans. From the wool 
these Indians make a coarse blanket, woven in a 
loom of crude and queer device. They market but 
few, but follow and watch them on the mountains, 
giving them much care and attention. The native 
hog is a queer looking specimen, his members seem 
out of proper proportion, those in front much larger 
than his hinder parts. He appears to have been 
left incomplete behind, while in front he is so driven 
together as to give his head and neck a swollen ap- 
pearance, reversing the order of the kangaroo, 
which is stronger behind than before. He is an 
unique looking porker, and may have been fash- 
ioned in this way the better to enable him "to root 
hog or die." He has the shoulders, as a turfman 
would say, of a " quarter horse," and the hams of a 
greyhound. A Chicago packing establishment 
would hardly place him in the price current list, 
but remand him to his native hills to grow up and 
develop with the outgrowth of the country. He is 
of the old red blood species, claims no fancy name, 
like Berkshire, or Irish Grazier, but claims a par- 
entage lineally descended from the pair which Fa- 
ther Noah housed in the Ark, and of such a variety 



330 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

that it was considered then the " survival of the 
fittest." Vegetables exist in considerable variety, 
but are only cultivated by the few, the others be- 
ing so occupied " in resting " that they have n't 
time to devote to such pursuits. They have but 
few iron vessels for cooking purposes, but use 
earthen oyers,* as they are termed. In this way, 
and upon such things, do these Mexicans live. His 
quantity is scant, and its quality, as served, is to the 
fastidious, at least, rather an uninviting repast. 
But, such as it is, he takes it with a relish, though 
it neither feasts nor fattens. As heretofore stated, 
his staple table commodities are beans and tortillas, 
and, without these, the human machinery is thought 
incapable of moving. Much may be learned of 
men from the mode in which they live. This, and 
their surroundings, have much to do in the forma- 
tion of character. These things impress themselves 
naturally as the bent twig becomes the bowed tree. 
But as to these things, I have sufficiently spoken, 
at least enough has been said to roughly outline the 
Mexican character, as influenced and shaped^by his 
habitudes and modes of life, and we now leave him 
for the study, if not the admiration, of my readers. 



* Pronounced O-yers. 



CHAPTER LXVII. 

STORMS. — CONSTITUTION OF MEXICO. — IMPOR- 
TANT PROVISIONS. 

The heavy rainfalls suggest the storms which, at 
times, prevail in the mountains. If storms else- 
where arouse painful apprehensions, here their ap- 
proach and continuance come and leave the soul 
terror-shaken. They seem like some irresistible 
power unchained, with a mission of destruction. 
Traveling once in the month of June, I was over- 
taken by one of them, but not of the severest 
character, and when it had passed and left me alive, 
I felt as if my escape was almost a marvel. Their 
suddenness and the hopelessness of escape from 
their rude peltings when caught, beget a fear which 
makes the stoutest heart quake. A black cloud 
is suddenly seen moving toward you with the 
swiftness of the wind, some large raindrops as 
outriders heralding its coming, and almost before 
they have ceased to fall, the storm in fury has 
broken upon you. The wind becomes a furious 
gale, the water falls in blinding sheets, and the 
vivid flashes of lightning, amid the crashes of 

331 



332 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

thunder, reveal the madness of the tempest. The 
great centnried pines, with rock-tied roots, bend 
and break before the blast like reeds, and are 
hurled down the mountain sides, together with the 
loosened rocks, weighing tons, which go thunder- 
ring below. The pitiless hail comes down with 
the rain torrents, to add to the grandeur and terror 
of the scene. The flashes of lightning are so fre- 
quent and so blinding as to remind one of that 
realm of light seen by Milton's Angel, 

" Who saw, but blasted with excess of light, 
Closed his eyes in endless night." 

The earth trembles as if quaking with fear in 
the elemental war. The frightened beasts and 
birds have, instinctively warned, sought their hid- 
ing-places or found their doom. The fallen forests, 
the dislodged rocks, the rushing flood, bespeak the 
circuit of the storm. Its genius rides in a chariot 
of desolation, drawn by the steeds of the wind. 
In the presence of such an overriding power man 
feels his utter nothingness, his boasted greatness 
the chaff of vanity, and his life the merest fleeting 
vapor. He stands abashed at the exhibition of 
such majestic power, and feels, when retreating 
within himself, that none but God can rule the 
storm. It is well to see such things; it takes us 
from ourselves and makes us feel there is a Power 
that in his own good time can destroy the earth, melt 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 333 

the heavens and imparadise the blest. Such, briefly 
sketched, will give some conception of the force 
and terror of these mountain storms; but a far 
better conception might be gained by witnessing 
the phenomenon itself, as words are feeble instru- 
ments with which to paint such scenes in nature's 
colors. And now, with these pen tracings as mere 
outlines, I leave my readers, from colors of their 
own, to fill up and complete the scenes. 

And at this time and place I may as well refer 
to the Constitution of Mexico, the fundamental 
law of the land. Elsewhere I have stated it had 
its model in that of the United States, but it is 
well here to note its most important provisions 
with the guarantees they embody. The constitu- 
tion of the country indicates to no little extent the 
genius of its people. This constitution, like that 
of other nations, deals in general outlines and 
leaves legislation within the purview of its limits, 
to deal in details. Certain great principles are 
recognized and their observance enjoined, which 
are for the well-being of the State. These must 
find a place in every government instituted for the 
welfare of society. 

The first declaration of the Mexican Constitution 
recognizes that the rights of man are at the foun- 
dation, and are the object of social institutions. 
And, as a consequence of this truism, it declares that 
all laws and all the authorities of the country ought 



334 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

to respect and sustain the guarantees that the con- 
stitution concedes. This is certainly a good pillar 
upon which to rear the fabric of constitutional 
government, the rights of men, a principle im- 
bedded in the very nature of things, a most fit 
starting point in constitution building. This prin- 
ciple can not be ignored, but must be recognized at 
the very threshold, and to attempt to do otherwise 
is the supremest folly. 

It recognizes that all men are born free, and, as 
such, are entitled to the protection of the laws. 
The principle of liberty, if untrammeled, will as- 
sert itself in every land, and sooner or later, by 
every people. But liberty in theory and liberty in 
fact are two different things, and while each one 
has a constitutional right to its enjoyment, yet in 
fact each one does not so enjoy it, and that this is 
the truth no one will deny. The principle is 
right, yet in too many cases the practice is wanting. 
Perfect equality, in fact, although aspired to, yet 
can never be attained under human institutions. 
Inequalities flow from human imperfections which 
enter into human workmanship, more or less, of 
every kind. But liberty to the citizen is one of 
the guarantees of the constitution and finds a front 
place in the organic law. 

Education is free, each one is privileged to seek 
it as he sees fit, and no one shall hinder him in the 
exercise of this right. The intelligence of the 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 335 

people is erne of the foundations on which is raised 
the superstructure of government. It is left, how- 
ever, to the legislators to determine what profes- 
sions require a license for their exercise, and the 
requisites of the same. 

It is announced that every man is free to labor 
in his profession or at his calling, it being a useful 
and honest one, as he may think proper, and avail 
himself of the products of his labor. And in do- 
ing this he can not be molested unless he invades 
the rights of others, when by the action of the gov- 
ernment or judicial sentence pursuing the law, he 
may be restrained. 

No one can be compelled to give his personal 
services without his consent and without, at the 
same time, just compensation. The law will not 
authorize any contract that has for its object the 
loss or sacrifice of the liberty of the citizen. Nor 
will it sanction any agreements in which the party 
may agree to his own proscription or banishment. 

The publication of one's thoughts can not be an 
object of judicial or administrative inquisition, ex- 
cept when he attacks the morals, the rights of a 
third party, provokes a crime, or disturbs the pub- 
lic order. I am disposed to think that this whole- 
some provision is not as broad in practice as it is 
in theory, judging from the manner in which some 
of the publishers of papers are treated, when it is 
supposed their criticisms of the government have 



336 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

transcended certain limits. But Article 7 says, the 
liberty of writing and publishing writings upon 
any subject is inviolable. The offense of printing 
Avill be passed upon by a jury, which will deter- 
mine the fact, and by another which will designate 
and apply the punishment. 

The right of petition by writing is also inviola- 
ble when done in a pacific and respectful man- 
ner, but in a political matter, only the citizen of 
the republic has this right. The right for the peo- 
ple to come together for a lawful object in a peace- 
ful manner is duly granted. But no one but the 
citizen of the country can do this, in order to take 
part in political matters. Nor is it lawful for any 
assembly of people, armed, to come together to 
deliberate. 

Every one has the right to possess and carry 
arms for his own security and legitimate defense. 
The legislatures will determine which are the pro- 
hibited cases and the punishment incurred. Every 
man has a right to come into and go out of the 
republic, to journey through its territory, to change 
his residence without any necessity of a letter of 
security or passport or safe conduct of any kind. 
But the judicial or administrative authorities can 
pursue him in cases of criminal responsibility. 

There are no titles of nobility, nor prerogatives, 
nor hereditary honors recognized in the republic. 
It is said that the people alone can, legally re pre- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 337 

sented, decree in honor of those who may give 
their eminent services to the country or to human- 
ity. No one can be judged by special tribunals. 
Nor can any person or corporation enjoy privileges 
or emoluments that are not a compensation for 
public service and are fixed by the law. There are 
no retroactive laws. Nor can any one be judged or 
sentenced except by laws in force before the fact, 
and applicable strictly to it, and by the tribunal 
established by the law. 

There shall be no treaties made for the extradi- 
tion of political offenders. No one can be mo- 
lested in his person, family, domicile, papers, pos- 
session, except in virtue of a written warrant, from 
competent authority that sets forth the legal ground 
of the proceeding. And in c se of a flagrant 
offense, every person can apprehend the offender 
and his accomplices, " putting them without delay 
at the department of the nearest authorities." 

Article 17 reads : No oip can be made a pris- 
oner for debts of a character purely civil. No one 
can exercise violence in order to regain his rights. 
The tribunal will always be open for the adminis- 
tration of justice. 

Nor can one be detained in prison for a longer 
period than three days without a judgment con- 
demning him to such imprisonment. 

In criminal cases, the accused has certain consti- 
tutional guarantees: 1. He has a right to know 

22 



338 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

the ground of accusation and the name of the ac- 
cuser. 2. He has a right to make his preparatory 
declaration within forty-eight hours from the time 
he is in court. 3. That he may face the witnesses 
against him. 4. That he may be aided in obtain- 
ing the facts and the process necessary to prepare 
his defense. 5. He has a right to be heard in his 
own defense or by his counsel. 

The punishment of mutilation, of infamy, marks, 
stripes, torment of every kind, excessive fine, con- 
fiscation of goods, and any other unusual and ex- 
cessive punishment are prohibited. 

Correspondence through the mails is strictly 
guarded and protected. In times of peace, with- 
out the consent of the proprietors, the military can 
not" for purposes of lodgment, take possession of 
private residences. 

Without consent, property can not be occupied 
except for a public purpose, and it first having 
been paid for. The death penalty is abolished ex- 
cept in a few cases. No one can be judged twice 
for the same offense. Monopolies are disfavored. 
The President, with the consent of his minister, 
(•an suspend the guaranties conceded by the consti- 
tution in certain public exigencies. 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 

CONSTITUTION CONTINUED. — INTERNATIONAL 
BOARD OF ARBITRATION. 

It is declared, in the Mexican Constitution, that 
all sovereignty resides in the people, and all govern- 
ment is instituted for their benefit, and they have 
the inalienable right to alter or modify the form of 
this government. 

The supreme power of the Federation divides 
itself for its exercise into three branches — legis- 
lative, executive and judicial ; nor can two or more 
be united in one person or corporation, nor the leg- 
islative be deposited in any individual. The exer- 
cise of the supreme legislative power resides in an 
assembly called the Congress of the Union. The 
members of Congress are elected every two years 
by Mexican citizens, a member for every forty 
thousand inhabitants, or fraction exceeding twenty 
thousand, and he must be twenty-five years old. 
These can not be held responsible for the expres- 
sion of their opinions while in the discharge of their 
duties. 

The President must be a native, thirty-five years 

339 



3 40 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

of age, not an ecclesiastic, and a resident at the 
time of his election. The Chief Justice, in certain 
events, may act as President. Term of President, 
four years. 

The Judicial power is vested in the Supreme, 
Circuit and District Courts. 

Those powers that are not expressly conceded by 
the constitution to the federal functionaries are un- 
derstood to be reserved to the States. 

These are some of the main provisions of the 
Mexican Constitution, an enumeration of others 
would needlessly encumber this volume. But 
from the foregoing we have a clear insight into the 
principles which underlie their government. A 
striking similarity will be noticed between their 
constitution and that of the United States. It is a 
popular, representative government, in theory at 
least, but in practice and futherance of the funda- 
mental ideas, much remaining to be learned — much 
for the better may come in the process of time 
from the education of the masses, and I must say I be- 
lieve tins most important subject is receiving the at- 
tention and all the aid the government, in its present 
condition, can afford. Elections, in many sections 
of the country, are travesties upon an expression of 
the popular will, as the names of the candidates to 
be voted for are sent clown from above " the powers 
that be," and the form of the election simply reg- 
isters the edict which has gone forth from another. 






THE MOUNT AIN8 OF MEXICO. 341 

But this thing is not limited to Mexico ; abuses of 
the popular franchise notoriously exist in other 
republican countries. It is a very difficult thing 
to obviate such results, and I know of nothing 
which will so soon tend in the right direction as in- 
creased intelligence and public virtue. Mexico is 
on the right road, with a recognition of the natural 
rights of her people, and those secured by certain 
constitutional safeguards, so that the subjects are 
not only unhindered, but eucouraged to proceed in 
the right course to the fulfillment of her destiny as 
a nation. The wisdom of her legislation ought to 
be able, and I doubt not will do so, to develop her 
magnificent internal resources, so that in a few 
years no fairer field will be seen on the Western 
Hemisphere for happy homes, and happy millions. 
Her statesmen, too, should display enough 
prudence and political foresight to avoid the 
breakers which come from international complica- 
tions, while national dignity should not be sacri- 
ficed; yet, at no time should a mistaken or false 
assumption of this, jeopardize the public peace. Na- 
tions must discountenance precipitancy, and, like 
individuals, learn the more that spirit of forbear- 
ance which seldom misjudges, and seldom fails in 
its well-directed efforts to reach a reconciliation. 
Here is the danger of Mexico, with her immense 
frontiers bordering on a more powerful republic for 
many hundred miles, while on either side lives a 



342 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

restless, adventurous body, ready too often, upon 
unsubstantial grounds, to provoke hostilities, and 
precipitate a revolution. Many of them are only 
too anxious to become actors in such exciting 
scenes, caring nothing for the national honor and 
safety, but influenced solely by selfish considerations. 
The perpetual attrition between borderers, sooner or 
later, will eventuate in outbreaks, and to quell 
these, and avoid their repetition, will require con- 
servative and consummate statesmanship. The 
establishment of an international board of arbitra- 
tion to adjudicate and settle such affairs would go 
far towards relieving such matters of the grave 
character they now sometimes present. These tri- 
bunals would take jurisdiction of such cases at once 
and proceed to their settlement in a quiet, speedy 
and effective manner, the national relations in the 
meantime remaining unstrained. This appears to 
be one of the most feasible modes of solving this 
question, and I think, should receive the sanction 
of the respective governments. Were it known 
that such a tribunal would take immediate cogni- 
zance of such matters, and as speedily adjust them 
as practicable, I think it would tend to allay the 
inflamed condition of the public mind, and resolve 
these things more into matters of local than national 
importance from the commencement. 

But Mexico is far from seeking any misunder- 
standings, knowing and feeling, as she does, her in- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 343 

ferior strength, and that auy conflict must ultimate 
to her detriment both in life and treasure. The ex- 
perience of the last war is yet too fresh in the 
minds of her people, wherein she lost so much val- 
uable territory, to desire the maintenance of her 
rights or the vindication ot her national honor at 
the cannon's mouth. She would achieve by diplo- 
macy what she might lose by war. But neither her 
public men, nor the temper of her masses, desire 
other than to follow the peaceful pursuits of life, 
much less to provoke to collision a more powerful 
rival at her door. She has now entered upon an 
industrial era, and is giving her best energies to 
the development ot the infinite resources of the 
country, believing " that peace hath her victories 
no less renowned than war." It has been a land 
of revolutionary storms, men rose and fell, one 
regime succeeding another, to be in its turn fol- 
lowed by another of brief duration ; changes were 
so frequent that instituted reforms failed of fulfill- 
ment and left the public interest paralyzed from 
such violent proceedings. Disorganization, to some 
extent, was everywhere; and, to some extent, every 
department of government felt its blighting effects. 
But permanent reforms come slowly, and so they 
come in this country, but now having come, every 
indication would seem to point to the fact that 
henceforth her march is forward, and her mission 
one of good to her people. Her matters of interior 



344 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

concern will doubtless be improved as time passes, 
and experience shows the necessity of reformation, 
and the difficulties now attending the management 
of these will find a solution in a higher intelligence 
and a more enlightened domestic policy. Mexico 
is not at all wanting in men of ability, men, in 
fact, of great capabilities. These, too, are not lim- 
ited to any one walk in life, but are found in all of 
its different vocations. But there are few of this 
class in comparison with the great number of those 
who are debased in ignorance and unguided and' 
unrestrained by moral influences. Measures reach- 
ing and raising the ignorant masses must be inaugu- 
rated and carried out before, as a nation, she can 
rightfully aspire to the first rank in the family of 
nations. The policy of her present administration, 
as well as that of the more recent ones, has looked 
to the betterment of the great body of her people. 
The great importance of this matter is seen and ad- 
vocated by her more advanced speakers and 
writers, and new steps are being taken by each suc- 
ceeding administration, to urge on the good work 
already commenced. But you can not raise a 
whole people in a single decade from the debase- 
ment of centuries. They can not, by a mere legis- 
lative enactment, be plucked out of such a condi- 
tion, but they must grow out of it, and growth 
implies time, more or less. Surround them with 
the most favorable conditions which the law can 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 345 

guaranty them, and then let them, uuder proper in- 
structions, work out their own social and political 
salvation. This is what may be and should be 
done, and, when done, they have their own destiny 
in their own hands. I believe this is the course 
now being adopted in this country, and in a few 
years its fruits will be seen to bless and gladden its 
people. Her immigration laws are liberal, and this 
infusion of other elements in the body politic will 
greatly redound to her welfare. She needs other 
blood to be infused into her veins to wake her from 
her long lethargy, the sleep of centuries — no nation 
needs it more, with probably the exception of the 
mother country, Spain. To vitalize and lift up the 
masses from the century-trodden roads is no easy 
task, but must be the labor of many men for many 
years addressed to such work. The skies of Mex- 
ico are manifestly brightening. 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

CHARACTER OF THE MOUNTAINEERS. — MISSION- 
ARIES. 

But these indications for the better appear not so 
much here as in other sections of the Republic. 
The hardy mountaineer does not move abreast with 
the spirit of the age. Isolated as he is, he is not 
brought in contact with the masses elsewhere mov- 
ing forward to better and higher conditions in life. 
The fact is, he has an aversion to novelties, to 
change, even though they be for the better, and 
would prefer to live in his solitary surroundings 
undisturbed, uninvaded by advancing lines of a 
more enlightened civilization. Many years ago I 
had read and heard much of the many virtues of 
these dwellers in the mountains until I had come 
to invest them with preternatural excellencies. Nor 
do I now mean to say that, in some localities, they 
do not possess many sturdy virtues, but I do mean 
to say that in these mountains the entertainment of 
.such an idea is altogether a false conception of their 
character. Living in such places, and with such 
natural surroundings, is favorable to the growth 
346 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 347 

and development of a spirit of independence, and 
tends to give brusqueness and ruggedness to char- 
acter. But then the advantages of cultivation are 
often lost, and the refinements and elegancies of life 
unknown. Coarseness blunts the finer sensibilities, 
and, too often, daily habits manifest shocking im- 
moralities. So, from long observance, I have been 
forced to change the opinion formerly held as to the 
superabundant virtues of mountain people. Those 
who may differ with me should hold in obeyance an 
expression of their opinion until they shall have 
visited these scenes and mingled for a season with 
the uncultivated natives. If then, however, they 
should still persist in an opposite opinion, I will 
give them up as lost, and abandon thern to the con- 
sequences of their own perverted judgments. 
Neither salt nor saltpetre would save them. 

But as to their characteristics, I have hetofore suf- 
ficiently written, and now leave them with the hope 
that they may yet, in some good way, under some 
good providence, emerge from night into day. But 
it is a difficult task to convert the dwellers of the six- 
teenth into citizens of the nineteenth century, with 
all its light, its civil and religious freedom. 

By this time an inquiry may have risen in the 
minds of some as to the outlook for missionaries in 
this field. Truly, in one sense, the harvest is ripe, 
but the reapers are few ; but I am not prepared to 
say that, were the reapers more, the gathered har- 



348 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

vest would be greater. The great missionary to 
India, Judson, I believe, preached many years 
without a single convert, and when asked what 
were the prospects, he replied, " As bright as the 
promises of God." I think it probable that had 
this been the field of his operations, he would have 
met with the same success, and when similarly 
questioned could have made the same beautiful re- 
ply. It will take a long time to overthrow faith in 
the saints, and the reception given here to the 
image-breaker would be the Avarmest of his life. I 
do not believe any visible results would attend mis- 
sionary efforts here at an early day. The educa- 
tion, the habits ingrained into a second nature 
must be changed, and this can not be accomplished 
suddenly, by violence, but must be the outcome of 
an enlightened process through lessons imparted, 
precepts implanted through long periods of time. I 
would not leave the impression that it is a hopeless 
undertaking, but one of most difficult accomplish- 
ment. Impossibilities are unknown to God, to 
whom nations may be born in a day ; but to human 
view, unaided by faith's telescope, there is a dreary 
moral waste stretching beyond the confines of hu- 
man vision. To me it seems an uninviting field to 
the Protestant evangelist. 

Protestants have missions and some churches in 
other portions of Mexico, but so far, I have never 
seen a Protestant minister, or a native Protestant 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 349 

in the mountains. Centuries ago the Jesuits estab- 
lished a line of missions throughout the country, 
extending far up into what is knoAvn as the State 
of California. At that date the Spanish lan- 
guage was spoken from Cape Horn to "Washington 
Territory. These Jesuits thus obtained a foothold 
at an early period in the country, and down to the 
present time their influence remains unbroken. 
The Indians of this country were assiduously 
looked after, and these, too, by the Jesuit shep- 
herds were gathered into the fold, and became then, 
and are now, communicants of the Catholic Church. 
They know nothing else ; they and their fathers, 
and all those before them were indoctrinated in the 
same faith, and their lives are a veritable illustra- 
tion of the line, 

" Just as the twig is bent the tree is inclined." 

I think it would take much time before the mis- 
sionary could get a hearing, a much longer time be- 
fore he could hope to exert any salutary influence 
upon the lives of the people. Here ignorance and 
bigotry live in close companionship, and differences 
of opinion receive but little toleration. The spirit 
of intolerance is the spirit of inquisition, which, 
happily for the world, is hoav viewed with the hor- 
ror its cruelties were calculated to awaken. As we 
have seen, this intolerant spirit receives no gov- 
ernmental sanction ; but the framers of the Consti- 



350 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

tution, catching the spirit of liberty, have wisely in- 
corporated a provision in the fundamental laws 
guarantying religious freedom to all. Probably to 
President Juarez, more than to any other, is due 
the separation of church from State, and for which 
he has never been forgiven by the church party. 
However, his name brightens in history as the 
years fly, and his country's true lovers now in heart 
almost canonize his name. While here to the in- 
coming of Protestants, there could be no legal ob- 
jections, yet, practically speaking, they would, in 
the effort of propagandism, find many molestations. 
At all events, such are the views I now entertain 
upon this subject, based upon a knowledge of these 
people for many years. 



CHAPTER L. 

HOW AMERICANS ARE TREATED. — BUSINESS 
METHODS. 

The inquiry is sometimes made, how are Ameri- 
cans received and treated in Mexico ? In view of 
the numbers coming into this Republic, the ques- 
tion is not only a natural, but a pertinent one. Be- 
fore the law equality is recognized, and all receive 
a cordial welcome, who come actuated by proper 
motives. The Mexican has his proper pride, his 
peculiarities of customs and habits as other people 
have, and to criticize these severely meets with his 
disfavor. Those who do so from absent-minded- 
ness or ignorance of the amenities of life receive 
the ill-will of the population. I have sometimes 
thought that they submitted more patiently to 
animadversions upon their country and people than 
we have a right to expect. There are many Amer- 
icans who seem to take pleasure in indulging in the 
bitterest denunciations of this country and their cit- 
izens, and in their presence. These same persons 
would not tolerate for a moment such language 
when uttered by a foreigner against the United 

351 



352 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

States. But this class of Americans, for the most 
part, are not worthy representatives of their coun- 
try, but, by reason of such imprudence, the whole 
American race is brought into disrepute. These men 
too, are overbearing in their dispositions, and in 
their conduct towards the Mexicans, whose enmity 
they incur, and whose forgiveness they never ob- 
tain. The Mexican seldom forgets an injury, but 
" nurses his wrath and keeps it warm " until an op- 
portunity comes when vengeance is taken. Years 
may pass, but malice lives through them all, until 
he strikes his offenders down. So, for whatever dif- 
ferences there may be between the races in this 
country, I am not so sure but that in a majority of 
the cases the antagonism may have sprung from im- 
proper conduct upon the part of the intemperate 
Americans. At least it is not probable that they 
were wholly faultless. Too often, I am sure, they 
have provoked difficulties, which might have been 
avoided by a better demeanor. The legislation of 
the country offers to the foreigner encouraging in- 
ducements, bids him come, and bids him welcome 
to the rights and immunities of citizenship. And, if 
he come and demean himself as a law-abiding per- 
son, attend strictly to his own business and keep 
himself clear from partisanship, he will meet with 
kindness and a cordial welcome. The manner in 
which one deports himself will almost invariably 
indicate the treatment he will receive. As he gives, 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 353 

so he receives. This is so abroad ; it is none the 
less so here. In a word, if a man will behave him- 
self here as he should do everywhere, I believe he 
will seldom have occasion to complain of his treat- 
ment. I think myself that most of the complaints 
are indulged in by those who themselves have for- 
gotten some of the common proprieties of life. If 
a man will bear himself as a gentleman, my conclu- 
sion is that he will seldom receive ungentienianly 
treatment. Too often it is the case that Americans, 
coming to this country, throw off all restraints and 
give rein to excessive indecencies and immoralities, 
offending the better portion of the public, and irre- 
trievably injuring themselves. They become 
drunken and besotted, often involved in difficulties, 
defy the peace and the authorities, to the shame of 
themselves and the scandal of their nation. Sooner 
or later they are landed in jail, and come forth with 
bitter recollections of the Mexican prison and peo- 
ple. These are the characters, generally speaking, 
who talk so much, and talk so badly as to the man- 
ner in which they have been received in Mexican 
communities. 

The foregoing remarks have reference to the 
treatment given by the better and not the rougher 
element of Mexican society. The latter, in some 
numbers, will be found everywhere, but generally 
in the minority ; when in excess in some exceptional 

23 



354 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

localities, these then are, for the most part, in the 
mountain districts. And, as to these I have already 
given some pen sketches, their ways and doings, 
general conduct, and modes of life. Hence, of 
these things to speak more at length would be an 
unnecessary repetition. But it is observable even 
among these rough and disorderly elements, a 
proper personal deportment goes far towards dis- 
arming opposition, and conciliating a predisposed 
animosity. Among the ignorant prejudices are 
very strong, and nothing so rapidly weakens and 
destroys these as a quiet, consistent and gentle- 
manly demeanor. Kindness, justice, firmness, sel- 
dom fail .to win their way, overcome intervening 
obstructions and achieve the purpose in view. Pa- 
tience, too, must not be overlooked when brought 
into contact with such people, for its exercise will 
check hasty action, and further you in the prosecu- 
tion of your object. While, for the foregoing rea- 
sons, I do not think one coming here will or need 
be mistreated, y«t, I do not say I can recommend 
it to Americans as a desirable place to live. While 
the climate is salubrious, unexcelled, yet it will be 
found difficult for Americans readily and pleasantly 
to accommodate themselves to the new order of 
things. The habits and customs of the population 
are so different from his own that, unless he adopts 
them, he will feel somewhat discordant. And to 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 355 

live in perfect harmony there must be at least a 
partial conformity to the usages of society. And 
to do this he feels as if his life is a kind of a com- 
promise, doing and saying things with disapproval 
of both judgment and conscience. The truth is, to 
live here is often to live with alternatives before 
you. You must accept the one course or the other, 
neither of which you would vol untarily adopt. So it 
is really a question of compromise, whether to do this 
or that, neither of which receives your sanction, yet, 
of necessity, compelled to act. It is an unpleasant 
predicament, but one from which you cannot easily 
escape. Their modes of doing business are entirely 
different from those to which you have been accus- 
tomed, and this is embarrassing and obstructive. 
But to get along with them in negotiations, their 
ways you must learn, and, however much you may 
dislike them, you will find yourself compelled, 
measurably, to adopt them. To your surroundings 
you are compelled to accommodate yourself, or 
your business transactions will end in failures. It 
is not every one who can so bend himself to his 
changed relations, as to win favor and success. 
Their business modes to an American will appear 
narrow, close, intensely selfish, unmarked in the 
main by that liberal spirit which is indicative of 
comprehensiveness and business sagacity. The 
business, too, tor the most part, is small in quan- 
tity and quality, and conducted on the most ap- 



356 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

proved Shylock principles. These things, to those 
trained in different schools, are not only distasteful 
but repugnant, and it will take much time to be- 
come reconciled to such systems. 



CHAPTEE LI. 



MARRYING IN THE COUNTRY. 



Here I may remark upon a social phenome- 
non ; it is that the majority of Americans who 
have been for a great many years in the country are 
seldom worth anything, either in purse or moral 
value. Somehow or other, they seem to have lost 
their moral force and drifted along with the Mexi- 
can tide to a status of indefinable worthlessness. I 
do not say all, but a majority, unfavorably im- 
pressed by those around them, have, in the race of 
life, fallen by the wayside into a state of financial 
and moral bankruptcy. The temptations were too 
many and too freqnent to go along with the rabble, 
and with weakened power of resistance they went 
below. The majority who live in this country for 
ten or fifteen years become pretty thouroughly 
Mexcianized, imbued with their tastes, and follow 
their habits. Unless they did, I can hardly see 
how one can remain so long in the country with 
any degree of satisfaction, with his early education 
and the remembrance of home habits and institu- 
tions, living as before intimated, in the mean time, 

357 



358 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

a life of perpetual compromise. Should one marry 
in the country then he is fixed beyond escape, and 
probably the sooner he strikes his American colors 
in terms of unconditional capitulation, the sooner 
he will find harmony in the domestic circle, and 
business thrift beyond it. The husband can not 
change the wife and all her relations; these will be 
found too many for him, and discretion here, too, 
being the better part of valor, he must yield a compli- 
ance to " the powers that be." He can not then resist 
the fates ; to do so wo uld only be to rush upon the 
bucklers of his own destruction. If children are 
born, the ties are strengthened that bind him to 
his adopted land, and henceforth, while having the 
recollections of an American, he is a Mexican in 
fact, and in law. When married, he will be fortu- 
nate indeed if his wife's numerous relatives do not 
quarter themselves upon him, eating up his sub- 
stance and poisoning his peace. For, like bees, 
they will come in swarms, but, unlike bees, they 
will make no honey for themselves. They will 
willingly and unseasonably, live with the American 
" compadres" but will never be more than drones 
in the hive. So, should one, captivated by the 
charms of some black-eyed Senorita, desire to con- 
tract the matrimonial alliance, I would suggest, 
look long and well to the prospects of the future, 
ere he entangles himself for life in the meshes of 
wedlock. While doubtless there are some who 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 



359 



marry happily, yet my observation has led me 
to conclude that, by far, the greater number from 
having so married, have skeletons at their feasts. 
If married early, then the probabilities for happi- 
ness are increased, as the husband material can be 
more readily bent in conformity to existing usages, 
than the toughened timber of bachelorhood. For 
yield he must to the inevitable, and to this he must 
make up his mind sooner or later, and become incor- 
porated as a passable member of the social and politi- 
cal body. At first he may kick, but his refractory 
nature, under the influences continually^" pressing 
upon him, will eventually dissolve into a sweet sub- 
mission to the firm supremacy which will hence- 
forth guide his conduct and shape his life. Now, 
as to marrying in the country, one must make up his 
own mind, after casting the horoscope of the future, 
remembering what is one man's meat is another 
man's poison, and that now, as formally, the Latin 
proverb has force, " nil disputandum de gustibus." 
I must again remind my readers that these re- 
marks are limited to the circle of my immediate 
observation, and not to the territory beyond it, and 
with which I have but a partial acquaintance. I 
do this that my language may not be misconstrued 
into that of general application, when I desire its 
limitation to these mountainous regions. 

In speaking of the business modes being objec- 
tionable to Americans, I omitted to refer to one 



360 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

especial feature of these which can not be over- 
looked. In all trades and commercial transactions 
you must ever be on the alert; here the want of 
vigilance will entail invariable losses. There is 
scarcely such a thing as trusting to the principle of 
the contracting parties, but the question is more 
narrowly weighed whether the interest or a selfish 
policy will not impel the party to a fulfilment of 
his obligations. He will meet them, and that 
promptly, if he sees it is to his interest to do so ; 
but the reverse will be equally true when the con- 
ditions are changed. While extensive credits are 
given, yet there is a leverage held by the creditor 
in some way, and the fulcrum on which it rests is 
not exclusively the one of principle. An analysis will 
show that their punctuality and faithfulness in 
meeting their paper, proceeds from self-interest, and 
not from principle of the debtor. They w r atch each 
other with eyes of a hawk in all their transactions, 
and esteem it a triumph to overreach their custo- 
mers and rivals. There are the fewest number who, 
in a trade, will not cheat you to your face, and rob 
you behind your back. They will not, unwatched, 
trust each other, and seem unfamiliar with fair and 
honorable dealing. Americans they look upon as le- 
gitimate prey for the vultures of their countrymen, 
and let no occasion pass, leaving no plumage un- 
plucked. Your negotiations with such a people 
must all be with your eyes open and at arm's 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 361 

length. Unless this rule is strictly observed you 
will awake from your reverie a wiser and sadder 
man. Now from this I do not mean to say that 
there are no Mexicans honest from principle, but 
this idea only I intend to convey, that I do not 
know them all, and will therefore charitably suppose 
that some do exist. : It is said that an honest man 
is the noblest work of God ; if there is a lingering un- 
certainty as to the truthfulness of this declaration, 
certainly it is all gone by a slight paraphrase of the 
statement when we read, " an honest Mexican is the 
noblest work of God," at all events this is a most 
pertinent exclamation when applied to a majority 
of them with whom I have had dealings through a 
series of years. Rarities often give values. There 
are many men who will not steal, who are yet dis- 
honest, for they will take undue advantage of you 
upon the first opportunity. This is my idea of dis- 
honesty, and it is a standard measure, which fits as 
if made for them, the large majority of the Mexi- 
can people I have known. I do not write in bitter- 
ness, for personally I have received much kind 
treatment, but my effort is solely to delineate them 
with faithfulness, as I have seen and found them. 
And this leads me here to say, while a guest in their 
houses you will have paid you most marked atten- 
tion, but while a customer in their stores you are 
viewed as a victim to be fleeced. The one is court- 



362 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 



esy and hospitality, the other business and iniquity. 
And with the Mexican, when the one begins, the 
other ends — their entire co-existence is seldom 
seen. These are some of the unpleasant things 
which one must endure when he becomes a resi- 
dent in the country, and to them long familiarity 
abates but little of your aversion. Again, knowing 
them as you do — you might almost say their inner 
lives — and then to see them, on stated occasions, 
parading their religious fervor, inspires a feel- 
ing like that we have for the broad, phylactery- 
wearing Pharisee. And somehow or other it does 
appear that the more notorious the known vil- 
lain, the bigger will be the image of his patron 
saint suspended from his gallows-deserving neck. 
And these fellows you meet on every hand, men of 
the most abandoned characters, and the worst lives, 
and some of whom, for less than one dollar, would 
ply the assassin's vocation and make widowhood 
and orphanage. With such men you may, at 
times, be thrown into an unwilling association. 
Upon the other hand, I must say that, in their en- 
tertainments and social life, they observe those at- 
tentions and practice well those sweet civilties 
which make us almost forget for the time their out- 
side conduct and dealings. Their formal politeness 
is excessive, and their repeated attentions weari- 
some. Of course much of this is the veriest sham, 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 363 

meaning nothing farther than a mere stereotyped 
conventionalism, and the observance of a tradi- 
tional etiquette. How much of heart there is in it 
one need not inquire or say, but for the time, 
with suavity and grace, they smooth out wrinkles 
from the face of care, and, in winning ways and 
pleasant words, beguile the tedium of the hours. 
By way of parenthesis I might have remarked, that 
the latter part of the foregoing sentence has more 
particular reference to the female portion of the 
community. Probably this fact is sufficiently 
patent, and my word of explanation altogether un- 
necessary, but I certainly mean no reflection upon 
the preceptive faculty of my readers by making 
the fact stated emphatically conspicuous. The 
ladies, in every particular, are less unattractive 
than *the men, with less positive guile, and more 
positive friendship. While the men jealously 
view the Americans as rivals at the shrine of Beauty, 
the priestess there is disposed to look upon them 
without a rival, and to bless them with her encour- 
aging benedictions. She is not at all averse to. a 
matrimonial proposition, and, ambitious of a higher 
rank, aspires to be the presiding genius over some 
American's home. The American, generally speak- 
ing, has more money and brains than his Mexican 
rival, and the Senorita, like c her sisters across 
the border, sees no objection to these things, but 
in them many reasons for the faith and love that 



364 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

are within her. Hence an American husband is a 
praiseworthy ambition, and she thinks he will 
treat her better anyway than her own country- 
men. 



CHAPTER LII. 

CONQUEST. — HISTORICAL FACTS. — PUBLIC DEBT. — 
ACQUIRING REAL ESTATE. 

We now allude to some important events in the 
history of Mexico. The Conquest under Cortez 
took place in 1521. He found the country ruled 
by native princes, at that time a splendid empire. 
Their rulers were Indians, and from whom have 
descended some of her most illustrious citizens. 

The Republic was declared independent in Feb- 
ruary, 1821 ; it became an empire under Iturbide 
in the following year, and by Santa Anna was pro- 
claimed a Republic in December, 1822. The ab- 
dication of Iturbide took place in March, 1823. 
Many have been the changes since that period, but 
to-day finds the government more stable and with 
brighter prospects for the future than at any former 
period in its checkered history. Peace prevails 
throughout her borders, and the signs of prosper- 
ity are seen on every hand. A steady perseverance 
in the policy announced in late years will redound 
to the general good of her people, and in the course 
of a few years give her an enviable place the among 

365 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 



the nations of the earth. Her present constitution 
was adopted in 1857. 

The Republic contains twenty-seven States, one 
Territory and one Federal District. The Territory 
is that long peninsula upon the Pacific Coast, 
known as Lower California. It is arid, poor and 
sparsely inhabited, but lately I see that there is a 
probability that a railroad will likely traverse its 
length from north to south. It is said to be a fine 
fruit region, and to contain some fine mines. A 
large copper property is now being worked there 
which was sold about two years since to a French 
syndicate for one million dollars. 

The city of Mexico is situated within the Fed- 
eral District, and this corresponds in many particu- 
lars to the District of Columbia in the United 
States. These are the geographical divisions of 
the country, and the foregoing some of its most 
important historical events. Such facts are well 
worth recording and remembering, although not 
strictly within the line of my correspondence. 
They serve to excite an interest, and it may be to 
gratify a reasonable curiosity. It is well to note 
here that there are some restrictive laws against 
Americans acquiring real estate in the Republic, 
but I think this applies to lands being acquired in 
the border States, and not to those in the interior. 
There are different modes of acquiring land. This 
may be done by denouncement, inheritance, adjudi- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 367 

cation, purchase, donation, prescription, accession, 
in each case pursuing the laws of the country. Of 
the public lands one may acquire by denouncement 
twenty-five hundred hectares (about two and a halt 
acres each), but this limit may be increased at the 
pleasure of the government. The cost varies ac- 
cording to the quality of the land, but only a few 
cents to the acre. Now 7 all the inhabitants may 
acquire a portion of these public lands unless they 
happen to be citizens, native or naturalized, of the 
United States or other foreign power bordering on 
the Eepublic, in which event they can not do so. 
Moreover, I am of the opinion that no American 
citizen can acquire real estate in a border State 
from a Mexican citizen, unless he becomes a citizen 
of Mexico, resides and has his domicile in this 
country. At least such was the law some years 
sine?, and I am not apprised of the fact, if it be 
such, that the law has been changed so as to per- 
mit it. I think it well to make this statement in 
view of the number who are coming to this coun- 
try from the Unittd States. This policy of Mex- 
ico was evidently grounded upon the apprehension 
that foreigners holding real estate along the border 
w r ould be a menace, if not an actual insecurity to 
the territorial integrity of the Republic. And for 
this reason I am persuaded that such a restrictive law 
has been passed and enforced. This might be obvi- 
ated by treaty stipulation between the United States 



368 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

and Mexico. The former, in such a solemn com- 
pact agreeing to leave the territory of Mexico as it 
is, and to discountenance actively and promptly all 
schemes and expeditions looking to any dismem- 
berment of the latter, and in return the latter re- 
pealing all such prohibitory laws and affording to 
American citizens, whether resident or non-resident, 
the amplest protection to their persons and prop- 
erty of every kind, and this wherever situated. 
This would quiet any latent restiveness, and beget 
a more genuine cordiality betwe-n the two nations. 
Our commercial relations would be greatly bene- 
fitted by such a frank avowal, and such liberal 
legislation. It would, too, dissipate that " mani- 
fest destiny " dream in which some of our states- 
men indulge, but this would be followed by more 
substantial relations and with the practical bless- 
ings to both countries which would flow from the 
same. Let this dream of absorption go, let us in 
peace make better what we have. This should be 
our " manifest destiny , w Of course each should 
have similar rights and privileges in the domain of 
the other. And then the basis of our intercourse 
would be equality and justice, and likely to endure 
for an indefinite period to the welfare of both 
parties. 

Mexico owes about $150,000,000, and the bonds 
of her consolidated debt are now quoted at 23J. 
Consolidated debt, Sterling London quotation, 30}. 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 369 

This would seem very low in view of her ability 
to meet the low rate of interest upon them, not 
exceeding three per cent., and the willingness she 
has shown to pay the same since she last arranged 
her debt. The uncertainties of government here- 
tofore have unsettled her securities, but this should 
be no longer a depressing circumstance to bear her 
bonds. The fear that a change of administration 
would weaken her securities has now been obviated 
by a provision of Congress, ratified lately by two- 
thirds of the States, permitting President Diaz to 
be elected for a second term, which could not have 
been done in the absence of such a law. The 
Mexican statesmen had forecast enough to antici- 
pate this trouble, and promptly to meet it at the 
threshold, by enacting the necessary legislation. 
She is now struggling to meet her public obliga- 
tions since the adjustment of her debt, and since 
that time has paid her interest punctually, and has 
commenced again the resumption of her subven- 
tions, suspended some years since in consequence of 
the wide financial distress prevailing at the time. 
The debt of Mexico, upon examination, will be 
found to be comparatively insignificant. The 
United States owe nearly fourteen hundred mil- 
lions, or about $23 to each inhabitant. Each 
Frenchman is burdened with $124 of the public 
debt ; each Englishman with $147 ; each Hollander 
with $115 ; each Italian with $80 ; each Belgian with 

24 



370 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 



$75 ; each German with $39, but each Mexican, 
assuming that there are eleven million inhabitants, 
has only $13.73 of the public debt upon his shoul- 
ders ! Now, in view of her immense resources, her 
magnificent possibilities in a word, this debt, under 
any kind of passable financiering, can be carried 
without oppressing her people. Especially is this so 
since, in some of the largest cities, there is no mu- 
nicipal indebtedness. The city of Mexico, with a 
population of more than four hundred thousand in- 
habitants, has no public debt, I am told. This 
may seem strange to my American readers, but in 
some way they have so administered the city af- 
fairs as to escape up to this time, that incubus de- 
nominated a " municipal bonded indebtedness." 
Recently, however, I see that some of the leading 
journals are now advocating the issuance of bonds 
and placing them upon the market to raise several 
million of dollars to carry forward to completion 
that long-neglected sanitary work, the drainage of 
the valley. For the city to-day is in a very un- 
sanitary condition, the death rate being fearfully 
high, as it has no system of sewerage worthy of 
the name, and it is with this view they wished to 
expend as soon as practicable, the money sought to 
be raised by the issuance of bonds. I do not see 
why they should not be a fine investment, based 
upon the assessable value of the city, and this man- 
aged as heretofore by her most sagacious financiers. 



TEE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 371 

But one word more : this city, as well as others, 
in the absence of any public indebtedness, presents 
certainly, an unusual phenomenon, and a striking 
contrast to American municipal corporations. But 
referring again to the general indebtednes of the 
country at large, while this is low per capita, yet 
upon the other hand, the poverty of the masses is 
just now so general, and the burden of taxation 
from all sources so heavy, that it is with difficulty 
they can meet these public obligations. It falls, as 
as stated in some former chapter, oppressively 
upon the poor, since the wealthier classes are, in 
their large landed estates, practically exempt from 
taxation. But in this matter no change will likely 
come until the people are better educated, have 
more knowledge of their legal rights, and more in- 
dependence ot action, and only vote for those rep- 
resentatives of their own selection, and have the 
manly courage on this question of suffrage to re- 
pudiate the dictation of others. There is scarcely 
a doubt but that the people have been greatly 
robbed in this, that the money taken from them in 
the way of taxation has been grossly squandered 
by the public functionaries, and millions of it in 
some instances, diverted from its legitimate chan- 
nels, have gone to swell the plethoric purses of 
unfaithful officials. It is a matter of general notori- 
ety that one distinguished official, during his pub- 
lic career, misappropriated many millions by retain- 



372 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

ing and converting the same to his individual uses. 
I have yet to learn that any punishment of any 
kind has been meted out to him for his " talcing 
irregularities" probably from the fact that he is 
secure, entrenched behind his stolen wealth, and can 
now defy investigating committees and inquisitorial 
courts. But such things had gone on unrepressed 
for so long a time that the people had become dis- 
couraged, depressed, and felt that their contribu- 
tions were not for the public good, but for indi- 
vidual emolument. And it has only been within 
the last few years that a change for the better has 
taken place, and this has been followed by a better 
public feeling at large. While official corruption 
is yet not unknown, still of late years commenda- 
ble progress has been made in filling high positions 
with more efficient and worthier men. At least 
such seems to be the general verdict of the coun- 
try, and I accept it as a truthful indication of the 
fact. I am not in possession of the data to give 
any accurate idea of the indebtedness of the States, 
or the form in which it exists. But judging from 
the burdens imposed upon the people, I am con- 
vinced that much mal-administration, if not cor- 
ruption in office, exists, for assuredly the benefits 
derived by the public, are few in proportion to 
the public money expended. But the masses 
know but little of such matters. Their duty 
is to pay, and the officials, faithful to their trust, 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 373 

see that they do not neglect the discharge of 
this obligation. And here I may remark that the 
governors of some of the States, are manifesting 
much interest in the advancement of education, 
and in the development of the industries of their 
commonwealths. All these are healthful signs of 
progress and of the approach of a better era. Ma- 
terial development and educational progress mark 
the prosperity of a State. 



CHAPTER LIII. 

CASAS GRANDES. — LEGEND. — MEXICO, LAND OF 
WONDERS. — CITY OF CHIHUAHUA. — CATHE- 
DRAL. 

With the proper enforcement of law, giving the 
necessary guarantees to person and property, a long 
step forward will be taken by the State in its mis- 
sion of usefulness and beneficence. Perhaps too 
much should not be expected in too short a time, 
for States, like all other organized existences, have 
their infancy, youth and age, and with capabilities 
corresponding to their changed conditions. The 
wide diffusion of knowledge through liberal systems 
of education, will, in the end, supplant error with 
truth, and wrong with right. Then, in due time, 
abuses will be rectified, and the people, having 
been enlightened by the experience of the past, will 
enter upon a new and unexampled career of ma- 
terial and political advancement. These state- 
ments, somewhat disconnected as a narrative of facts, 
I confess, I have thought might as appropriately 
be inserted here as in any other connection, and on 
which my readers may reflect with some pleasure 
— probably with some profit. 
374 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 375 

We will now return from the general excursion 
just taken, to some matters of interest within this 
State, Chihuahua. I ask that you now accom- 
pany me to some old ruins called the " Casas Gran- 
des," situated near the northwestern frontier, and 
doubtless the relics of the Aztec people. The 
Casas Grandes, or " Great Houses," when trans- 
lated, are located on the west bank of the Las 
Casas Grandes River, which empties into the river 
Conchas. These houses are the remains of im- 
mense structures built centuries ago, and now sink- 
ing into mouldering ruins. They occupy a space of 
eight hundred feet, from north to south, and two 
hundred and fifty from east to west. They were 
built of adobes, sun-dried brick, but much larger 
than those now generally in use among the Mexi- 
cans. The outer buildings were, it appears, not 
more than one story high, while those within were 
from three to six stories. On one side may be seen 
the ruins of a continuous fortification, while the 
eastern and western fronts are irregular with pro- 
jecting walls. These appear to have been court- 
yards within the enclosure of different dimen- 
sions. 

A beautiful legend is related by the Spanish his- 
torians of the ^journeyings of the Aztecs, some of 
whom, at an early period, migrated to that portion 
of the State and built the Casas Grandes, while 
others, going farther north, located in the Territory 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 



of Arizona. Antonio Garcia Cubas in his work re- 
lates the legend as follows : 

" Huitziton, a person of great authority among 
the Aztecs, heard in the branches of a tree the trill- 
ing of a small bird, which, in its song, repeated the 
sound ' tihuc/ the literal meaning of which is, ' let 
us go. ? Huitziton, being struck at this, and com- 
municating his impression to another personage, 
called Tecpaltzin, they both induced the Aztecs to 
leave the country, interpreting the song as a man- 
date from divinity. Even to the present day, there 
is a bird known among the Mexicans by the name 
of ' Tihuntochan ' (Let us go home). In 1160 they 
commenced their peregrination, and, passing by a 
large river, which historians concur in being the 
Colorado, and which discharges itself into the Gulf 
of California, they advanced towards the river Gila, 
after remaining some time at a place known to-day 
by the name of Casa Grande, not far from the shores 
of the river. From thence they continued their 
road, and again took up quarters at a place to the 
northwest of Chihuahua, now called, like the pre- 
vious stopping-place, ' Las Casas Grandes/ and 
whose ruins show the vast proportions of the an- 
cient building and fortress. Leaving behind them 
the wide ' Sierra de la Tarahumara ' they afterwards 
went to Hueycolhuacan, now Culiacan, capital of 
the State of Sinaloa, and there remained for three 
years, during which time he made the statue of 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 37T 

their god, Huitzilopochtli, which was to accompany 
them in their expedition. During their peregrina- 
tion the tribe was divided into two factions, one 
faction settling on a sandy promontory called Tlal- 
telolco. The name of Mexico was given to the 
new city, in honor of their god, who was born of a 
virgin belonging to the family of Citli, and he was 
cradled in the heart of a magneay plant (metl) ; 
hence the name ' Mecitti/ afterward changed into 
' Mexico/ " 

Such is the legendary history of the origin of 
these famous ruins. They are all well worth the 
study of the antiquarian. Who were these people, 
what was their mission, for what purpose were 
these immense building constructed, and how did 
they live ? Were there populous settlements 
near there, and if so, how did their inhabitants sub- 
sist, from the woods, or from the fruits of well- 
tilled fields ? There are many inquiries suggested, 
and many curious speculations, as we think upon 
the subject. But so much is wrapped in obscurity 
that all our conclusions at last are uncertain, and 
resolve themselves into unprofitable speculations. 
The same mystery enfolds them as shrouds the ori- 
gin and life of the cave-dwellers and mound-build- 
ers. But the ruins are there, magnificent in their 
desolation, attesting for their long-forgotten builders 
no little enterprise and fertility of resources. 
Doubtless their leaders were men of brains and dar- 



378 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

ing, and, with lives consecrated to a purpose, per- 
chance to some ambitious project, led their fol- 
lowers thither to its accomplishment, first through 
the conquest of the wilderness. But these, as be- 
fore suggested, are mere idle surmisings, and we 
leave their fragmentary annals to the more enter- 
taining search and study of the antiquarian. Noth- 
ing now written, reliable, survives their extinction, 
and their rise, progress, and decline, their virtues, 
vices and exploits have fallen alike into oblivion's 
tomb. In the vicinity of these Casas Grandes are 
said to be some good mines, and I believe a rail- 
road is now projected to run to or near there, start- 
ing at Deming in New Mexico. If so, it will open up 
a fine field to the enterprise of the mining adventurer 
and capitalist, for, until recently, the Indians have 
held almost undisputed possession of these moun- 
tains against the incursion of all others. That por- 
tion of the State was visited this year by an earth- 
quake, the shock of which was very violent and 
continued for many days. It destroyed some and 
injured other villages, and, in many respects, 
changed the entire aspect of nature. It is reported 
that mines, unknown before, were exposed to view, 
the watercourses were changed and other striking 
phenomena presented. 

Mexico, in some particulars, is truly a land of 
wonders. Earthquakes and volcanoes in some 
parts are not infrequent; its valleys, under well- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 379 

directed culture, will teem with abundant harvests, 
and its mountains continue for ages to give their 
precious contributions to the commerce of the 
world . 

Let us now pass to the city of Chihuahua, the 
capital of the State, and make a few remarks touch- 
ing the same for information of my readers. It is 
situated near the center of the State, on the Con- 
chos River, about two hundred and thirty miles 
southwest from El Paso, and one thousand miles 
from the city of Mexico, and contains probably fif- 
teen or eighteen thousand inhabitants. The streets 
are broad, well-paved, and cross each other at right 
angles. These, too, to the credit of the authorities, 
are kept well-swept and clean. Ail Mexican 
towns and cities have their public squares, called 
" plazas," and Chihuahua has several of these. The 
principal one, however, is near the center of the 
business portion of the city, and is handsomely or- 
namented with trees and flowering shrubs, and a 
fine fountain of pure water, conducted thither by an 
aqueduct from a stream several miles distant. 
Here, several evenings in the week, the public 
band discourses music to the thousands who assem- 
ble there. The plaza is immediately in front of the 
celebrated cathedral of which so much has been said 
and written. I, too, must say a few words descrip- 
tive of the same. Some have said it is one of the 
finest buildings in the world, but I am not enthusi- 



380 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

astic enough to endorse any such exaggerated state- 
ment. It is a large building, constructed of brown 
stone, which seems to be of an inferior building 
quality, gothic in style, with dome and towers. 
The statues of the twelve apostles are placed in an 
appropriate position in front, of life size, seemingly 
sculptured from the commonest stone, and that, too, 
by apprentices at the business. I am sure Michael 
Angelo would condemn them as caricatures of his 
great art, and consign them and the authors to the 
oblivion they so richly merit. The cathedral, like 
other churches here, has no seats, and the worship- 
ers must kneel or stand during their devotions upon 
the stone floor. And this floor, in many places, 
has been worn in holes and uneven places by the 
multitude of worshipers through long years since it 
was built. It is an open church, into which there 
is a living stream of humanity pouring and emerg- 
ing during the hours of the day and a portion of 
the night. You never pass there unless the devotees 
are seen on bended knees in front of the altar, mo- 
tionless as statues, saying their silent prayers. The 
women, in numbers, far exceed the men in their at- 
tendance. The fact is, my observation has led me 
to conclude that comparatively few men there are 
regular attendants at the services of the church. 
The cathedral is said to have cost eight hundred 
thousand dollars, and was built by the contribution 
of one real (12J cts.), from each marc ($8), which 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 



381 



was taken at that time from the Santa Eulalia 
Mine, situated but a short distance from the city. 
This, then, was in bonanza which seemed inex- 
haustible, and continued so for nine years. Suffi- 
cient data from the above is furnished to make the 
calculation easy as to the yield of the mine during 
that period. It is also said that a reserve fund of 
one hundred thousand dollars additional was set 
aside from the output during that time, having the 
same basis of apportionment as the cathedral building 
fund. But I caution my readers to discount all 
these big Mexican stories at usurious rates, and then 
they will be more likely to approximate the truth. 
Formerly, between the cities of San Antonio, 
Santa Fe and St. Louis, a considerable trade was 
carried on. In this city, too, is said to have been 
confined the patriot Hidalgo in the Jesuit Convent 
of San Francisco, and who was executed there in 
1811. A monument is there, reared in his mem- 
ory, in the Plaza De Armas, commemorative of his 
patriotism. .JT. 



CHAPTER LIY. 

INSTITUTIONS OF CHIHUAHUA. — IEON MINE OP 
DURANGO. — EDUCATION. 

A mint is located here which does a considerable 
business. There are four banks also, which are liber- 
ally patronized and have large capital stock. The 
buildings were formerly one story high, but of late 
years the architecture has become more imposing, 
having two and three stories and with a more ele- 
gant finish. The Mexican Central Railroad passes 
through this city from El Paso to the city of Mex- 
ico, and has effected a great many changes in the 
appearances of things since its coming. The 
sleepy old city was awakened from its long slum- 
ber by the passing cars, and for the time new life 
was infused into its drowsy inhabitants. A con- 
siderable number of Americans now reside there, 
pursuing different vocations and meeting with 
more or less success, according to their capacity, 
aptitude and attention to business. The city is 
lighted with coal oil, a contract for the same hav- 
ing been made with some shrewd American some 
years since. The water supply is good and abun- 
382 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 383 

riant. A great many American vehicles are seen 
upon the streets; the duties upon carriages are so 
much upon each wheel, formerly, I think, thirty 
dollars. It is probable this has been modified so 
as to reduce it to only twenty dollars a wheel. 
This may appear rather a singular mode of levying 
duties, but not more so than was adopted some years 
since, when goods were hauled from the United States 
to the city, and they collected five hundred dollars 
upon each wagon load, the size of the wagon being 
immaterial, the small ones paying as much as the 
large ones. The hotels are not first-class, but en- 
durable, as you expect to leave soon for other parts. 
The modern convenience, the street car, drawn by 
mules is seen upon the streets, but not so profitable 
to its owners or so popular as in other cities. 
There are two telegraph offices, one with an Amer- 
ican, and the other with a Mexican operator. 
Messages from the United States will stop at the 
American office and will not be sent forward to any 
interior point by the Mexican line, unless there is 
an express agreement to that effect. In the ab- 
sence of such an agreement, if the postage is paid, 
it will be sent to its destination by mail. They 
are now building a fine State house, but the prog- 
ress is very slow, and the probabilities are that 
many years will transpire before its completion. 
The city, I believe, has a very good system of 
public schools. The Supreme Court sits here also. 



<384 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

With several of the judges I have the pleasure of 
a personal acquaintance, and found them intelligent 
and agreeable gentlemen. The city contains some 
twenty lawyers or more, Mexicans, but I feel con- 
vinced were an American to locate there who spoke 
the language, and was well qualified, he could get 
a fine practice in due course of time. There is a 
great deal of business done by the Americans in 
the State in the purchase of lands, mining and 
other enterprizes, and these desire to do business 
very naturally with those with whom they can con- 
verse and understand. The city, too, has its full 
complement of the medical profession, but an 
American physician who has resided there for ten 
or twelve years has the leading practice at this 
time, and has had it for some years. He is emi- 
nently qualified, not only as a practitioner, but as 
a surgeon, and has a most lucrative practice. 
There are also one or two American dentists who 
are doing well, but Americans, I believe it is con- 
ceded, excel all others in this profession. There 
are one or two flourishing mills, but so far as I know 
none for grinding corn, the " metates" (stones) of 
the antediluvian, still performing this service. 
The railways leading to different points are gener- 
-ally good and on which travel the lumbering 
wooden wheeled vehicles of old, as well as the 
-modernized Concord coaches, carrying mail and 
passengers. The scenes presented remind us of 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 385 

those we saw in portions of the United States, 
more than a quarter of a century ago, but which 
have now "passed the way of all the earth. " 
These are some of the features of the old city, said 
to have been built in the sixteenth century, and as 
we walk its streets, and view its belongings, we 
feel as if we had been transferred to some olden 
land, hoary with memories of the past. 

These imperfect sketches from Mexico would be 
more so, were I now not to tell you something of 
the great iron mountain in Durango, adjoining 
this State. 1 know Bro. Jonathan has much of 
which he can boast, and in this, from long practice, 
has acquired a remarkable proficiency, but I doubt 
whether such a body of iron ore exists elsewhere in 
the world. Some claim it is an aerolite which had 
fallen on the plain, and disconnected from any 
ledge or deposit of ore. But then this, by some 
recent writer, is denied, and he gives the geologi- 
cal formation about and underneath it, and claims 
it is of volcanic origin. Ward, in his History of 
Mexico, says it is composed of iron ores of two 
distinct qualities, crystallized and magnetic, both 
equally rich, as these, contain from sixty to seventy- 
five per cent, of pure iron. It is called the " Cerro 
de Mercado," and is 1,750 varas (33 inches each) 
in length from east to west, and 400 varas in 
width, and the height from the surface of the plain 
234 varas, " which cuts, as it were, in the middle 

25 



386 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

horizontally," making the result in cubic measure- 
ment, in veras, 60,000,000. From analysis of the 
pure iron it contains, the amount of ore it is esti- 
mated in the mass is more than 5,000,000,000 of 
quintals (100 lbs.), and from this, if the percentage 
of pure iron is only 50 per cent., although it assays 
75 per cent., the whole body will produce 2,500,- 
000,000 quintals of metallic iron, and then if this 
is estimated at 85 per hundred in Mexico, it would 
represent the sum of §12,500,000,000, or more, it 
is said, than the product of all the mines in Mexico 
since 1772 to 1880, which has been estimated at 
§4,000,000,000. But to give a more distinct idea 
of this enormous mass of iron, if the amount pro- 
duced in England annually for the last 330 years 
has been 15,000,000 quintals, the whole amount 
duriug that time lias been 4,950,000,000 of quin- 
tals, or only a little over one-third of the amount of 
pure iron contained in the " Cerro de Mercado," 
which is almost untouched, while thousands of tons 
are brought from England and the United States. 
Xow nature never does a useless thing, but stores 
her supplies for human needs. Then the time will 
come when this immense treasure must be fash- 
ioned into forms to supply and meet human wants. 
But if it is not like "carrying coals to Newcastle" 
for this country to import iron, I am at a loss for 
a proper simile. This is a big iron story, but it is 
not "a fiction founded on fact," but a truth at- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 387 

tested by many travelers, among them the illustri- 
ous Humboldt, who had some of its specimens 
analyzed. So it is not in gold and silver exclu- 
sively that Mexico excels, but in the most service- 
able of all the metals, in iron, she can boast of the 
biggest single bonanza, I presume, in the world. 

The figures above furnish interesting data by 
which to gauge this enormous pile of unworked 
iron. It would seem sufficient for thousands of 
forges for thousands of years to come. In the lab- 
oratory of nature it has been reserved until now, 
when at the bidding of men it must come forth 
from its long resting-place, and go out into the 
varied activities of life in its mission of usefulness. 

It may interest my readers now to know some- 
thing of other matters outside of these mountain 
ranges in this Republic ; and probably information 
on no subject would be more cheerfully welcomed 
than upon that of education, which so vitally effects 
the well-being of the people and State. This is 
now obligatory in the majority of the States — pen- 
alties being inflicted for its non-observance, and 
rewards for its observance. Elementary educa- 
tion comprises : Reading, writing, Spanish gram- 
mar, arithmetic, tables of weights and meas- 
ures, morality and good manners. And in the 
girl's schools, needle work and other useful arts. 
In some of the States, geography, national history 
and drawing are compulsory, and in schools not 



388 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

maintained by the government, geometry and alge- 
bra are taught, with elements of natural history, 
French language and ornamental drawing. There 
are between eight and ten thousand primary schools 
in the Republic. More than six hundred are sup- 
ported by the State government and more than five 
thousand by municipal authorities. Scholars of both 
sexes attend these schools. In the Republic there 
are more than one hundred establishments of what 
are termed secondary and professional instruction. 
These include preparatory schools, civil colleges of 
jurisprudence, schools of medicine and pharmacy, 
schools for engineers, naval and commercial schools, 
academies of arts and sciences, agricultural schools, 
academies of fine arts, conservatories of music and 
oratory, military colleges, seminaries supported by 
the Catholic clergy, blind, deaf and dumb schools, 
and secondary schools for girls. In these latter 
mathematics, cosmography, geography, domestic 
medicine, history and chronology, book-keeping, 
domestic economy, and duties of women in society, 
natural, figured and ornamental drawing, manual 
labors, horticulture and gardening, music, the French 
and Italian languages are taught. I presume a 
young lady instructed in the foregoing might be said 
to be " highly accomplished." She ought to be a 
" sweet girl graduate." There are nearly four 
hundred thousand pupils. There are twenty pub- 
lic libraries, containing 236,000 volumes, and it is 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 389 

said that private libraries, containing from 1,000 to 
8,000 volumes, are numerous. Some even have 
as many as 20,000 volumes. There are some 
fine museums in the Republic of antiquities and 
paintings. " In the Republic are 63 institutions 
dedicated to the cultivation of the arts and sciences, 
of which 29 are scientific, 21 literary, 20 artistical, 
and 3 of a mixed character." 

The foregoing will give some conception of the 
educational facilities furnished the youth and citizens 
of the Republic. These show that the arts and 
sciences, the useful, as well as the ornamental 
branches of education are not wanting in enthusi- 
astic students. The older portions of the Republic, 
as is natural to suppose, have more of the refine- 
ments of life and the elegances of culture than the 
mountainous districts. I believe this is so every- 
where, the natural surroundings giving complexion 
to the character of the inhabitants. At least such 
is the theory of some, and many facts go to sus- 
tain it. 



CHAPTER LV. 

THE TRAMP. — LOCAL ATTACHMENTS. — PACKERS. 
— INCIDENTS. 

There is another character hitherto unalluded to, 
whose demerits merit mention. I now refer to 
that ubiquitous individual called the tramp. He 
is also indigenous to this section, though the exotic 
article is more frequently seen. How they subsist 
is a mystery, as the relay stations are here more 
widely separated, and yet they do, and seem to 
flourish like a " green bay tree," though under the 
most discouraging conditions. I learn, too, when 
he was not here " the memory of man runneth not 
+o the contrary." An intelligent old gentleman 
who has been residing in the country for nearly 
half Ja century tells me that he was here coeval 
with his earliest recollection, frequent and active — 
that is, active in his way. This period long ante- 
dated the railroads in this country, and when wag- 
ons and pack-trains exclusively did the transporta- 
tion business. He said they would often attach 
themselves to some wagon train and ask the privi- 
lege of remaining with it during the night, which 
390 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 391 

was given upon the express condition that they 
would lie down and have themselves tied securely 
until morning. Knowing their traits so well, this 
measure was adopted in abundant caution to pre- 
vent theft, and probably murder. If they would 
not submit to this reasonable requirement, then 
they were ordered to leave the encampment. But 
inasmuch as the Indians were at that time very 
numerous and warlike, these vagrants generally 
permitted themselves to be tied for the safety of 
themselves and of their entertainers. Here he is 
on the tramp, tramp, from one point to another, 
without any well-defined object, save it be to gratify 
an abnormal desire of his nature, just to be wan- 
dering aimlessly hither and thither. He has a na- 
tural aversion to steady employment, and when his 
temporary earnings are exhausted, then he is ready, 
pressed by his necessities, if not his innate mean- 
ness, to inflict some injury or commit some crime. 
The genus here is certainly a bad one, but how he 
can be best utilized, or eliminated from society, is 
one of the knotty problems of the age. He is un- 
questionably a dangerous element — vigorous idle- 
ness always is — for the unoccupied are mischief- 
breeding and mischief-making. Charities ex- 
pended upon such objects are charities misapplied, 
for it is a direct encouragment to laziness, and in- 
directly stimulates viciousness. But good people 
often give to them rather than to take the trouble 



392 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

to investigate their claims upon their bounty, and 
furthermore by so doing, they the sooner are freed 
from their annoying applications. Well conducted, 
organized charity is much better for society, both 
the givers and the receivers. It lessens imposition, 
and then becomes a true benefaction worthily be- 
stowed. But I believe the most pestilent of these 
characters seen here are " not to the manor born," 
but importations from other countries, with broken 
fortunes and misspent lives. They are, as if they 
were resting under the curse of Cain, veritable 
wanderers upon the face of the earth. And with 
these gentry they prefer to wander rather than to 
work. In this floating body different nationalities 
are most unworthily represented. In point of 
numbers, I think the American is in the ascendant, 
due probably as much to his proximity as to his 
restless disposition. I do n't believe anything good 
can come out of this walking Nazarene. When 
the habit is fixed, he becomes one of the incura- 
bles, and all efforts at reformation are generally 
futile. His course is onward and downward, but 
never upward. The tramp is ever changing local- 
ities, but never changing conditions. Vicissitudes 
come to his restless spirit, but these are marked by 
no improvement, and he lives on as he walks on, 
unchanged for the better. He meets his end at 
last, friendless and homeless, and by unfeeling 
strangers is dumped into his rude grave w r ith a sigh 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 393 

of relief that their trouble, too, is over, as well as 
his. He dies as dieth the fool, leaving the world 
no better for his having lived in it. Such is 
his life, and such his death, and now no memory 
survives the one or the other. 

Generally speaking, however, the Mexicans, not 
tramps, have strong local attachments. It matters 
not how uninviting his habitation, and how far he 
may wander, his heart and his thoughts will turn 
to that spot, the center of his affections. It may be 
nothing more than a mud hut built on the side of 
the mountain, or a framework of poles with 
thatched roof, it is all the same to him as if it were 
a castle or a palace. And while for want of these 
home conditions which, with us, make home the 
sphere of woman recognized and blessed, yet to 
him his home has an attractiveness as no other 
place, and a charm unbroken with the changes of 
the years. We would not call it home unless 
there were other attractions than with him, and 
these must " come from tender ties and sweeter 
associations." But so it is, reared in the most in- 
accessible places, with the most ungainly surround- 
ings, he would not exchange these for the most 
favored spots, with sweep of plain, and fertile soil, 
with winding river, and mountain view. I have 
known persons raised in these canyons go out of 
them on trips to the city of Mexico or to San 
Francisco, and become almost homesick before the 



394 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

business of their trip had been concluded. It is 
said they sighed for their native tortillas and beans 
worse than did the Israelites in their exodus for the 
flesh-pots of Egypt. I heard of one wealthy Mex- 
ican, who took his family, consisting of his wife 
and some grown daughters, on quite an extended 
tour, visiting the principal cities of the United 
States and Europe/, and upon their return, when 
they landed in the Mexican port, they expressed 
themselves as being overjoyed, for now they could 
once more get something fit to eat ! To them the 
best hotels abroad could furnish nothing so palata- 
ble, so appetizing as corn cakes and beans! But I 
apprehend other things than their delicious bill of 
fare drew them homeward. But it is a fact the 
natives here seldom leave, and when they do, re- 
turn from choice. There is to them an attraction, 
unseen by me, which roots them to the rocky soil. 
I repeat, they would not exchange their adobe 
hovels for a palace elsewhere, their unfenced 
canyon patches, not for alluvial lands on the deltas 
nor broad prairie acres. Naught they care for the 
busy world beyond. The quiet world about them 
fills up the measure of their joys and all ambitious 
emls. 

Formerly I have had occasion to allude to the pack- 
ers, the freight carriers in the mountains, but in- 
asmuch as they are very important factors in the 
business economy of these parts, they merit more 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 395 

than a mere allusion. They are a rough class, 
brought up on the road, and living upon it nearly 
all the time, with their trains of mules and burros. 
Their home attractions are not very strong, as they 
seldom remain there for any considerable length of 
time. But packing, going and coming from distant 
points take up nearly all their time. One place 
suits them nearly as well as another, provided there 
is a sufficiency of water and pasturage for their 
animals. They travel from ten to twelve, and 
sometimes fifteen miles a day, camping early and 
starting late. They are familiar with all the camp- 
ing places, and graduate their speed so as to reach 
them in due season. Like the remainder of his 
countrymen, he is in no hurry to leave his stopping- 
place or reach his destination. I have known 
thein to be on the road for more than sixty days, 
leisurely pursuing their way, when, had they made 
seasonable time, they could have delivered their 
freight in less than one-third of that time. But 
since his birth he has never been in a hurry, nor 
will he be until his death. There are only two 
things, in the doing of which have I ever seen a 
Mexican manifest any haste, the one is taking a 
pack from a mule, and the other, taking — a drink ! 
In doing the former he is stimulated to some ac- 
tivity, in the latter he is precipitate! They lead 
a rough life upon the road, with the coarsest, and often 
scanty food and scantier clothing, with no tents to 



396 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

shield them from the cold rains and colder winds, 
but when night comes, they fall upon the cold 
ground, often covered with sleet or snow, and, pil- 
lowing their heads upon the rocks, with the un- 
curtained stars above, catch visions, not of ascend- 
ing and descending angels, but " see sights" such 
as Jacob never saw from consecrated Bethel. 

The provoking slowless in the delivery of their 
cargoes has often reminded me o^ an incident 
which took place at a mining camp in the south- 
eastern part of the State of Nevada some years 
since. A merchant living at the place had bought 
quite a stock of goods, and it was all important to 
him to get in his goods as soon as possible, as this 
class of goods was in great demand at the time. 
Wagons were at that time the only means of trans- 
portation to that point, and the Mormons had a 
monopoly of the carrying trade. After waiting a 
reasonable time for his goods, and not hearing any- 
thing from them, losing money every day by their 
non-arrival, he wrote in every direction to learn 
something of their whereabouts. Still not hearing 
anything for a good while farther, he ventured to 
address a note to the Mormon Bishop, and " in due 
course of mail " that clerical official responded in 
substance as follows : " Your letter was duly re- 
ceived, making inquiry, etc.; in reply to which I 
have the pleasure to write, upon diligent investiga- 
tion, I find that Bro. John Smith has your goods 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 397 

out at his house ; they are perfectly safe, under a 
good shelter, and as soon as he " lays by " and 
gathers his crop, he will forward them to you without 
delay ! I might add that Bro. Smith having had 
sealed unto him, recently, his seventh wife, he could 
not well leave his family at this time. At last ac- 
count Bro. Smith and wife were doing well. The 
goods are all right." The expectant merchant in 
the case cited had the promise of the high church 
dignitary that his goods would come, but here the 
coming of the Mexican freighter is unfortified by 
any such assurance, and the faith in the promise of 
his coming is childlike in its simpicity. Often 
they will reach camp, and if a favored locality, will 
remain there until they fatten their stock, and then 
continue their journey until they find a better 
place, or from some eccentric freak or sheer caprice, 
go on to their destination ! There is no rule by 
which you can measure him, no standard now- 
known by which you can gauge his in-comings 
and out-goings. In his methods of business, he 
defies the ordinary rules of calculation, and makes 
his own w r hims the elastic rules which govern his 
business affairs. Now and then, too, in his travels, 
he sees some mule wdth top-heavy cargo losing the 
center of gravity, from some misstep or other mis- 
chance, go tumbling hundreds of feet below to cer- 
tain destruction. He gathers the unbroken pieces, 
loads them on another animal, goes on his way, 



398 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

not rejoicing, but accepts the catastrophe as one 
of the " flings of outrageous fortune." From 
twenty to fifty generally make up a train, pre- 
ceded often by a boy with some old horse, with 
or without a bell, which they will follow from 
day to day, through thick and thin. In meeting 
these trains of mules upon the narrow mountain 
paths, you must give the way, for their law of 
the road is to take it all, and unless you do this 
with much promptitude, you are liable to be 
dragged from your animal by their projecting 
bundles. This danger is not inconsiderable, and 
it can only be averted by observing the caution 
already expressed. Of course such people never 
accumulate anything ; the rolling stone gathers no 
moss. They literally live hard, and die poor. 
I presume they fill their place, an humble one, 
it is true, in the business operations of the coun- 
try, and the country could not well afford to do 
without them. It takes, we hear it often said, a 
great many people to make a world, and these 
must have different tastes, adaptations and capaci- 
ties. I suppose in filling his sphere, the packer, 
too, has found his business level which suits him 
better than anything else, and for this reason con- 
tributes to the aggregate of the general good. The 
word toughness does not fitly express their moral 
status, but some other as yet unin vented term may 
the better describe this condition. While this is 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 399 

so, he is not wholly bad, but now and then gleams 
of good-heartedness and generosity shine forth 
from his rugged nature like sunbeams dancing with 
the shadows upon his mountain home. 









CHAPTER LVL 



CARGADORES. — EL BURRO. 



There is another class of laborers in this country 
worthy of mention, called cargadores, literally bur- 
den-carriers. But these are found at the shipping 
ports, and their business is to take from the lighters 
the goods, boxes, bales, bundles ; in fact, all kinds of 
freight, to the shore at the wharf. To do this, it 
is often necessary for them to wade to a consider- 
able distance out into the bay, and to a con- 
siderable depth also, to receive their cargoes. 
It is simply remarkable how much one of these 
men can carry, not infrequently more than five 
hundred pounds. They have been brought up 
to it irom their youth, and certain muscles have 
become so developed, and such a dexterity has been 
acquired by long practice in the handling of such 
things, that their feats of strength and endurance 
are almost amazing. Those men, too, have their 
" unions." It was some years since^I think, in the 
city of Mazatlan or Guymas, when it was sought to 
introduce some labor-saving appliance to transfer 
this freight to the shore, thus superseding the labor 
400 



TEE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 401 

of these men ; they rose in a body and demolished 
their business rival. Since then they have not 
sought its re-introduction, and cargadores "hold 
the bay," and monopolize the business. Any ma- 
chinery coming in conflict with their interest is re- 
garded by them as their deadly enemy, to which 
they will give no quarter. Somehow it appears 
that the Mexicans can pack more than anybody else, 
whether large or small. Often I have seen boys 
carrying loads which far exceeded their own weight, 
lor I have learned the fact by actually weighing 
the burden and then the boy. From the time they 
are five years old they commence packing burdens 
and continue it through life, acquiring much strength 
and skill in their handling. It is interesting to 
watch these cargadores managing huge boxes and 
barrels and great misshapen pieces of freight, how 
it calls into play their educated muscles, and with 
what apparent ease they perform their herculean 
tasks. These, too, are a certain species of middle 
men between the seller and the buyer, to whom a 
certain tribute must be paid. 

Speaking of these burden-bearers reminds me of a 
half- promise I made, some pages back, to speak 
more at length of the burro, for, as a carrier of 
freights, his services are so well recognized that he 
has sometimes been denominated the " Mountain 
Schooner. M And he is as much entitled to such a dis- 
tinctive honor as the dromedarv to bein£ called li the 



402 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

ship of the desert." I presume these seen here are the 
unimproved breed, small, wiry, and tough. But 
small as they are, weighing only a few hundred 
pounds, I have seen one pack four or five hundred 
pounds of broken rock for a considerable distance 
down a rough mountain path, picking his way as 
cautiously to avoid accidents, as if in the conscious 
discharge of a high duty. He has no racing qualities, 
but when made, his feet were set and his speed was 
gauged to a certain grade, and there is nothing on 
earth can break this regulation. No threats or en- 
treaties, no kind of influence can make him step one 
step more, or one step quicker, so as to break the 
lau- of his life. He has no blind side upon which 
you can approach, and with human flattery and 
sweet beguiiement to so cajole him as to cause him to 
vary one iota from his life mission. His eyes are 
wide-awake, mild in their expression, but firm in 
their resolve, and he will neither be led nor driven 
by his keepers from his burro desires and purposes. 
Here he is not only an exemplary, but a most use- 
ful member of society, and without him here, I am 
sure the wheels of progress would cease to roll. He 
is often abused, at times shamefully treated, and yet 
no word of rebellion escapes his patient lips. He 
is worked hard, and when his driver is exhausted 
in his efforts to move him, then he is turned loose 
and told to go until the morning, and find some- 
thing to eat wherever he can, in order to bear his 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 403 

master's burdens again to-morrow. Released from 
his thongs and shackles, he saunters forth, with his 
scars and sores and bruises, to nibble the dry 
grass and leaves, and finish, perchance, with a de- 
sert of old, greas) r rags and scraps of leather and 
paper. He has no compunctious throbbing as to 
whose forage he eats, as this with him is wholly 
a matter of taste and not of conscience. From such a 
repast of the night he is ready again for the pun- 
ishments of to-morrow. He deserves a better fate, 
but truly here have his lines fallen in evil places. 
His hardihood is most astonishing, doing the heav- 
iest drudgery and subsisting almost on thin air and 
nothing. While pacific in his disposition, seldom 
attempting violence with his rear extremities, yet 
he is dogmatic in his views of things, in fact, so 
much so that some of his critics have thought his 
firmness of opinion had degenerated into stubborn- 
ness of will. If this imputation were true, " 't is a 
pity ? t is true," yet it could hardly be otherwise, 
when his father and mother were somewhat noted 
for this unamiable quality before him. I might 
have remarked that his digestive functions are won- 
derful. I would not say he could not, with impu- 
nity, banquet upon a pile of old scrap tin, and en- 
joy the feast too, especially if he were permitted 
undisturbed to approach and appropriate it by 
stealth, for, like members of the human race, espe- 
cially his master, he enjoys forbidden fruit the 



404 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

most. For you know bad boys say stolen water- 
melons eat the best, and in the make up of the burro 
there is a good deal of the bad boy. Whether his 
slowness is constitutional, or derived from long as- 
sociation with the Mexican, is one of those ques- 
tions to the solution of which I invite the lovers of 
" fancy stock," and the curious students of ethnol- 
ogy. Treat him well and he is faithful, treat him 
ill and he is faithful still, philosophically expecting 
more roughness of treatment than roughness of 
forage. 

It is not improbable, driven by one of the young 
Noahs, he packed his own provisions into the big 
vessel, and, after the falling of the water, when the 
" Ark rested on Ararat," he had forage to spare, 
and came forth from his long rest as fat and as 
sportive as a thoroughbred Kentucky bluegrass 
filly. In his whole history it is the only restful va- 
cation he ever had ; he did n't disturb the other 
animals, and for once the other animals did n't dis- 
turb him. 

His valuable life is seldom prolonged. From 
severe usage, or because " death loves a shining 
mark," in a few years, the burro historian chron- 
icles, the transmigration of his spirit, and his stout 
bones, glittering in the sunshine and the moon- 
beams, uncovered and uncared for, rest with the 
rocks of the valley. After life's jerks and bangs 
and bruises, he sleeps well with his fathers. The 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 405 

twilight of antiquity knew him, he has lived 
through all the succeeding ages, and is destined to 
survive till "the last syllable of recorded time." 
Viva, viva el burro ! 

His flesh is much relished by the Indian epicure. 
Upon the burro ham, or other choice, jucy parts, 
he feasts with almost as much genuine satisfaction 
as upon his favorite dish, the savory, ffat prairie 
dog, for the eating of which he would return a blow 
for any interruption, though this were even made 
bv his own mother! 



CHAPTER LYII. 

SUGGESTIONS AS TO REFORMS. 

Mexico has but little danger to anticipate from 
her more southern neighbors, Gautemala, Costa 
Rica, San Salvador, and Honduras. So long as she 
maintains her non-intervention policy, but little 
trouble will come from said States. While she 
might not be averse to their union with her all- 
Spanish speaking people, yet I am not aware that 
she is ambitious of extending her territorial do- 
main. Certainly not, if such an extension would 
involve a sanguinary conflict. But to the north 
she must look for her probable dangers. And it is 
to be hoped that the wisdom of wise men may 
overrule the folly of foolish ones, and that the 
flags of the two lands may float side by side in 
peace. Peace from without assured, Mexico can 
address her energies to her domestic concerns, the 
upbuilding of her industries, and the uplifting of 
her people ; the true functions of government. To 
do this effectually, many abuses must be corrected, 
new measures introduced, reforms set on foot. 
These things can be done, but their consummation 
406 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 407 

necessitates time. The body of the people must be 
educated not only in the cities, the centers of popu- 
lation, but in the rural districts as well. No gov- 
ernment is stable built on an ignorant rabble. The 
education must go to such an extent that they may 
be able to see and appreciate their rights and 
privileges, and the blessings of good government. 
It must rise higher than the influence of the dema- 
gogue, and be stronger than the selfishness of the 
partisan. This education, however acquired, 
whether enforced by the government or not, must 
pervade the masses as a leaven, and then it will lift 
them up to a higher and truer conception of gov- 
ernment, and ot their own manhood. While to- 
day she is not wanting in educational enterprises, 
yet they are insufficient in numbers and character 
to meet the public requirements. In the extension 
of these educational facilities, she is making, of 
late years, most commendable progress ; yet in this 
particular so much remains to be done that her ef- 
forts already made are rather undervalued. Upon 
this subject her leading men are abreast of the age, 
and are strong advocates of compulsory education, 
and recent manifestations in the several States be- 
speak, at no distant period, its general acceptance. 
The more intelligent the constituency, the better 
the representatives. Then, the more enlightened 
the people, the better will be the representative 
government. The election farces of to-day, when 



408 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

the ballots bespeak not the will of the voter, but of 
another, will be followed by a better elective sys- 
tem, where the ballot will register his own choice, 
and proclaim the will of a freeman. The people 
must be educated to a higher self-respect, to view 
themselves as more important factors in the affairs 
of government. They must break their reverence 
for the manipulating politician, the political 
mountebank, and give growth to their own conse- 
quence as members of society and citizens of the 
State. Until this is done, we can expect no perma- 
nent change for the better; but they will be driven 
forward like dumb cattle, unthinkingly and unre- 
sistingly, to the shambles. But a mere intellectual 
education is not sufficient, without some moral en- 
largement. Intellect, without moral growth, is 
only half education; but intellect with morals is 
education complete. Thus equipped, one carries 
within himself the highest constituents of citizen- 
ship. In this is Mexico sadly in need: the im- 
provement of her public morals. Many of her 
public men are intellectually strong, but morally 
weak, and, of course, wanting in that moral force 
which inspires confidence and carries conviction. 
But it may be said this defect obtains elsewhere ; 
true, but this does not make it less conspicuous 
here. Mere intellect, unswayed by moral forces, is 
a potent element of danger; but controlled by 
these, it is a divine instrumentality. 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 409 

Something, too, should be done to lessen the 
gambling mania, such a widespread evil, and one 
which effects so seriously the earnings of the poorer 
classes. From this their time and thoughts should 
be turned, and given employment in other channels 
more profitable to themselves and to the common- 
wealth. You can hardly hope to extirpate such an 
evil ; but its curse may be diminished by a repres- 
sion of its universal, flagrant conspicuousness. Cer- 
tainly, it should not only not receive the counte- 
nance of the authorities, but be by them and the 
law discouraged in every possible manner. At 
present the case is tar otherwise : the highest and 
the lowest, State, government and municipal offi- 
cers, jostle each other for space at the gaming 
tables. When certain practices are unmixed evils, 
leading, in the end, to profligacy and ruin, it then 
becomes the duty of the governing power to strike 
them down with a strong arm, for the salvation of 
the public. I have already pointed out the malig- 
nity of this vice in the country, and it is unnces- 
sary again to rehearse its evil effects. Its influence 
is so demoralizing, that those affected by it are 
rendered in a short time unfit for the discharge of 
the proper duties w T hich they owe to themselves, 
their families and society. The nuisance should be 
drawfed in its proportions, if not abated, by the 
most stringent, penal legislation. 

The evil of drunkeness, too, should be sup- 



410 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

pressed ; its victims, men and boys, in some way 
should be rescued from the clutches of such a mon- 
ster. If it continues ungovernc-d for many years, 
the harvest of evil will be as broad as the land. If 
there are now restrictive laws, they fail to restrict, 
and the evil grows apace with the times. But 
here, again, in this matter, something must be done 
to check its progress and save the people. Be- 
tween drinking and gambling, the daily earnings of 
the working classes go to the ruin of home and the 
impoverishment of its members. If this serpent 
continues its course unmolested, unchecked by law, 
with its fangs unbroken, and its poison undrawn, 
this will become a nation of drunkards and soon 
ripe for extinction. So much misspent time, and 
so much of labor's products misapplied, weaken the 
body politic no less than the individuals them- 
selves. It was never designed that man should 
throw himself away and become the slave of a con- 
suming appetite. He was born for a better des- 
tiny, and, if need be, the State should see that he 
attains it. 

Again, wise laws are the needs of a country ; 
but these are useless unless enforced. This coun- 
try has some fine laws, conceived by practical legis- 
lators, to meet public necessities, and yet in many 
sections they are inoperative by reason of their 
non-enforcement. This is strikingly true in refer- 
ence to the criminal laws. For some reason or 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 411 

other they have neither spirit nor life — they are 
dead. The truth is, the fault of the age is not so 
much a want of knowledge, as a want of common 
honesty. Men — officials — know generally what 
they should do ; but are dishonest in the failure to 
discharge their duties to the public. They will 
make a bargain with themselves, or, what is worse, 
it may be with some other person, and if they find 
they will make more by not doing, than doing, 
their duty, then they will dishonestly fail to dis- 
charge it. " They know the right, and yet the 
wrong pursue." Good officials should fill these 
most important positions. If they can not be ob- 
tained in the immediate vicinity, as is often the 
case, then they should be selected elsewhere and 
commissioned to that particular locality. As it is, 
the officials are wanting in every necessary qualifi- 
cation in many places, intellectually, idiots, and 
morally, felons. No country can survive such an 
unwise administration of its laws. These must be 
duly enforced, whether right or wrong ; if wrong, 
the more stringently enforced, the sooner repealed. 



CHAPTER LVIII. 

GENERAL REFLECTIONS. 

We have now reached in our ramblings a point 
at which we may properly pause and indulge in 
some general reflections. And, in doing so, if we 
give expression to ideas already advanced, it will be 
with the view of emphasizing their importance. 
We have, in a somewhat discursive,way, treated of 
a variety of topics as they suggested themselves, 
without much reference to order or connectedness. 
We spoke of the revolutions through which the 
country had passed, and how, by these convulsions, 
everything was unsettled. Law and order during 
their prevalence were practically in abeyance. Life 
and property had an uncertain tenure, whether one 
or the other body of the revolutionists prevailed for 
the time. The industries of the country were com- 
pletely prostrated by these political disturbances, 
and the great mass of the people remained in a con- 
dition of deep poverty, ignorance and wretched- 
ness. In fine, but little advancement of any kind 
was made in any department ot life. It could 
scarcely have been otherwise where there was so lit— 
412 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 413 

tie authority, and so much lawlessness. But hap- 
pily, in the course of time, a new order of things 
came into existence, and, by the courage, patriotism 
and statesmanship of a few men, the skies so long 
overcast became bright with the stars of hope, " old 
things passed away," and the prophecy of a better 
future was heard on every hand. This was only a 
few years since, and to-day Mexico begins to real- 
ize throughout her borders the fruition from her 
bettered condition. For centuries, it may be af- 
firmed, she has not had such general tranquillity as 
in the last decade, nor has she made such material 
progress as during the last period. Her statesmen 
and her people, or at least the best informed of 
them, now seem alive to the importance of contin- 
uing in the good course so auspiciously begun. 
But it is manifestly true that this can only be done 
by the maintainance of peace within and without 
her territorial limits. The central government must 
keep itself sufficiently strong to stifle in their incip- 
iency any uprisings instigated by disappointed dem- 
agogues and ambitious leaders. Some of these yet 
remain in the country, ready as marplots to seize 
upon any opportunity promising any chance to dis- 
turb the established order of things. As her lines 
of communication are far better than ever before, 
she can more readily throw her troops to any given 
point to quell any insurrectionary movements. 
Heretofore, these revolutions and counter revolu- 



411 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

tions have been fatal to her credit abroad, for loans 
could not be negotiated in the money centers, for 
capitalists could see no promise of repayment from 
a government in power to-day, and which to-mor- 
row might be overthrown. The governments 
changed as flowed the ebb and tide of changing for- 
tune. Money seeks a stable order of things, faith, 
too, in the honor and ability of the promisor. For 
these reasons Mexico could not pay what she had 
borrowed, and of course could not borrow more ; 
her revenues, such as they were, were applied and 
misapplied to her home obligations instead of her 
foreign debts. In consequence of such a condition 
of things, many public works were unbuilt, and 
other matters of public importance unprosecuted. 
Her internal dissensions reacted in a fatal manner 
upon her public credit and stopped her in the path 
of national progress. But now her credit, I am 
glad to say, is becoming re-established in the ex- 
changes of this and the old world. I learn, within 
a very recent time, she has, through her financial 
agents, negotiated a loan in Europe of more than 
fifty millions of dollars. With this, it is her pur- 
pose to retire a portion of her English debt, her 
floating home debt bearing interest, and then apply 
the residue to some needed public works. The rate 
of interest is not more than six per cent. Confi- 
dence is of slow growth, money is sensitive, and a 
suspicion of confidence is fatal to investments. But 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 415 

the ability to make the loan just stated indicates 
clearly the confidence abroad in the stability of the 
government, and in the wise and faithful applica- 
tion of its revenues. Such a loan would give her 
much immediate relief, too, for in order to meet 
some of her most pressing obligations she has been 
compelled for this purpose to hypothecate her cus- 
tom home receipts in advance. Hereafter this will 
be obviated by this economic negotiation. 

And this restored confidence will grow with the 
growth and strength of Mexico. As she evinces a 
disposition and ability to meet her obligations, her 
credit will steadily advance in the monetary mar- 
kets. And there is now no reason why she should 
not, in a few years, be able to command all the 
money she may desire. A foreign war or in- 
ternecine strife are the only things w 7 hich I can 
now see that might retard her future career. The 
importance of the maintenance of peace at home 
and having friendly relations abroad, can not be 
over-estimated. At this juncture, from a domestic 
or foreign war, however great her recuperative 
power, she would not recover for many long years to 
come. Above all things she need* peace, and must 
have it. More and more must come into promi- 
nence the pursuits of peace rather than the profes- 
sion of arms. Every encouragement must be given 
to the husbandman and manufacturers, to the pro- 
ducts of the soil, and the varied products of ma- 






416 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

chinery. This will give employment to her people 
and bring in its train thrift and contentment. 
Hundreds of thousands of acres are now idle, un- 
touched by the magical plough-share, but upon cul- 
tivation ready to recompense the ploughman with 
abundant yields. Fruits of almost infinite variety 
and description grow and are harvested at the 
gatherers' pleasure. These are some of the peaceful 
industries which make the homes of tenants happy. 
But one blast of war would change the face of for- 
tune, and the plow would stand in its furrow and 
the wheels and spindles would cease to hum their 
music. The curse of war long outlives its duration, 
its blighting consequences beyond the reach of 
human computation. No, Mexico must keep her- 
self from such a calamity, and give her people one 
good chance in the race of national life. The world 
is moving, and she should and will move with it, 
if only unhindered by some such incalculable mis- 
fortune as war. But I now think her danger is 
more to be apprehended from foreign than domes- 
tic strife. It may, and then may not, come in years. 
As already said, she has an immense frontier, ex- 
tending for many hundreds of miles, touching on the 
north and east the possessions of the United States. 
It will require the most consummate prudence, con- 
servatism and no little statesmanship to prevent the 
friction engendered by conflicting interest, and the 
injuries inflicted by one side upon the other from 






THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 417 

sooner or later kindling the fires of open hostility. 
Closer commercial relations may avert such a catas- 
trophe, and that these may have such a beneficent 
result is an argument in the interest of humanity, 
no less than is self-interest, why they should be 
established. Commerce is peace, non-interchange 
is estrangement. Let these commercial ties be 
made so strong that their disruption would mean 
untold losses to the parties, and then peace would 
have commerce as her most eloquent advocate. 
Again, let not the representatives of the respective 
governments be too hasty in their deliberations or 
conclusions, uninflunced by the clamors of parti- 
sans, and upon the presentations of grievances, give 
to them a prompt, but the fullest and fairest inves- 
tigation. But to this matter, as already indicated, 
I believe, for the speedy adjustment of such com- 
plaints an international arbitration board, with 
carefully defined powers, would be more satisfac- 
tory. Such an organization, composed of prudent, 
just and wise members, would readily detect the 
causes of irritation and quickly apply the needed 
measures to remedy the evil by the infliction of pun- 
ishment or the award of damages. Such complaints 
would not then linger for years in the archives of 
the State department, until the aggrieved had ex- 
hausted his patience, his time and his money in the 
futile attempts ^to get a final hearing. The expedi- 
tiousness of such a tribunal would be in the inter- 

27 



418 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

est of justice, justice to both parties, and especially 
would it be in the furtherance of peace. Having 
heretofore adverted to this matter, I only do so 
again, at this time, to impress its importance upon 
the public mind, with a view of its ultimate adop- 
tion. As matters are at present, there is almost a 
practical denial of justice to the complainant, how- 
ever meritorious his petition. Assuming it to be a 
valid claim, then, when shall he receive payment? 
is the question ; " it may be in years, it may be 
not at all. Life is too active, and time is too 
fleeting to continue longer such unreasonable de- 
lays. The times demand quicker dispositions and 
more active measures. 



CHAPTER LIX. 

GENERAL REFLECTIONS — CONCLUDED. 

Another thing : the enormous burdens now im- 
posed upon importations and the products of the 
country, in the way of taxation in one form or 
other, must be greatly modified. The schedules of 
tariffs should be remodeled, imposing new imports, 
modifying and abolishing old ones to meet the 
public expenditures. Prohibitory tariffs bring 
death, and not life. I know this is a profound, 
economic study, and changed conditions require 
corresponding changes. What may be wise in one 
State, at one time, may be unwise in the same State 
at another time, or in different States. Each in its 
wisdom must judge of its financial needs and adopt 
the best measures to meet the same. But mere 
local benefits should never be permitted to override 
the general good. The advantages to the majority 
should be kept steadily in view, although in doing 
so local inconveniences and injuries may ensue. 
Lower taxation induces greater consumption, stim- 
ulates labor, and encourages trade. As decreased 
postage increased correspondence and postal receipts, 

419 



420 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

to decrease taxation in many instances will increase 
importation and the public revenues. But in what 
class of cases these changes should be made, is a 
question to be resolved by the financiers of the 
country upon the most careful study and searching 
investigation. I entertain not a doubt that great 
changes may be made in the existing tariffs, and 
these to the improvement of the public exchequer. 
Every government must live upon its revenues 
derived from different sources. But these may be 
imposed in such a way, or upon such articles, as to 
impede the progress of the country, either crippling 
or permanently disabling it. The inter-State duties 
— that is, one State imposing duties upon articles 
coming into it from another State — is not only a 
flagrant violation of constitutional law, but a pol- 
icy deserving the severest reprobation, and is ruinous 
in the extreme. The federal government should 
assert its power in this particular, and see that its 
organic law is obeyed. Longer now to permit its 
violation unchallenged, is to incur the disrespect of 
its most loyal citizens. Its lines of transportation 
should be extended, and its means of intercommu- 
nication greatly multiplied, opening up remote sec- 
tions and giving increased facilities to the traveler 
and trade. The undeveloped wealth of the coun- 
try can not now be foretold. Its agriculture in 
one sense is in its infancy, and many of its forests 
of precious woods untouched by the woodman's 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 421 

axe. Its mining regions, though worked for cen- 
turies, are yet unexhausted, and new developments 
are being made, and new bonanzas unearthed, rival- 
ing those in the olden time of historic fame. All 
these things need new modes of work and handling, 
new and quicker ways of shipment. The mines of 
the Western United States are but the fringe, the 
outskirts of the immense mineral body which Mex- 
ico holds within her dominion. For time to come 
her mines must continue to furnish her principal 
articles of export. And just as new and improved 
methods are adopted for the extraction of these 
treasures will this industry farther grow in impor- 
tance. Her sugar interest must grow in impor- 
tance, too, but for years to come, by reason, among 
other things, of the scarcity of labor, it will re- 
main of secondary value. I do not believe she will 
ever be a large exporter of sugar to the United 
States, certainly not for many years. Sorghum and 
beet sugar are now rapidly coming to the front, 
and as little as we may now dream, these may su- 
persede in a few years to no inconsiderable extent 
the foreign product. Again, improved machinery 
for working the sugar-cane, new T processes, the 
" diffusion " for instance, increases to the maximum 
the extraction, and adds amazingly to the aggregate 
product. It is said that the sugar-cane of Cuba 
contains about eighteen per cent, of saccharine mat- 
ter, but the Cuban planter is only able to extract 



422 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

with his methods about seven per cent. The 
American cane contains twelve per cent, of sac- 
charine matter, and by what is known as the "dif- 
fusion process," recently introduced, more than 
eleven per cent, of this is extracted. I think the 
ratio ot extraction in Mexico is nearly the same as 
in Cuba. There is assuredly no immediate danger 
from Mexican sugar in the United States coming 
in serious conflict with the "infant industry" 
there. 

Her coffee plantations, rightly handled and en- 
couraged, will return ample profits to their propri- 
etors. Those merit, if any industry does, the 
paternal care of the government. There is an im- 
mense area of territory adapted to its cultivation, 
and which, in the course of time, will be utilized 
for that purpose. The consumption of coffee is on 
the increase, and its production and proper stimu- 
lus will correspond to the demand. In the raising 
of this, she will find formidable rivals in some of 
her nearest neighbors, to say nothing of the im- 
mense output from the empire of Brazil. 

But there is another thing w T hich demands a 
change. The cumbrous copper money now in use 
should be retired, and this replaced by pieces of 
the finer metals as a circulating medium. Particu- 
larly would this be desirable for the purposes of 
small change. For larger transactions, the bills 
of her banks, bottomed on an unquestioned solid 






THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 423 

basis, might be used. Already some of her bank- 
ing institutions do an immense business and enjoy 
the full confidence of the commercial public. 
There are others, I can say, whose notes are not 
received with so much favor, but in their circula- 
lation are subject to heavy discounts, and especially 
is this the case when found some distance from 
home. The National Bank of Mexico, located in 
the city, has a capital of more than thirty millions 
of dollars and transacts an enormous business. 
Mexico, in many localities, presents a fine field for 
banking operations. Capital, directed by integ- 
rity, enterprise, and business sagacity, in many of 
the larger cities would now pay splendid dividends. 
The advantages to the country, to be derived from 
good banking institutions, are coming to be appre- 
ciated more and more by enlightened nations. 
Probably it may not be generally known, but the 
city of Buenos Ayres, the capital of the Argentine 
Republic, South America, has a banking house 
with a capital of §37,000,000, circulation of $22,- 
000,000, deposits of $56,000,000, and loans and 
discounts of $67,000,000. It is said the deposits 
in all the banks there amount to $64 per capita 
against $49 in the United States. It is unnecesary 
to make further reference to this matter, but we 
may indulge the hope that Mexico will, in a short 
time, so regulate her fiscal affairs, her currency, as 
to redound to her permanent good. 



424 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

There is one other matter most noticeable to the 
student of Mexican affairs, seen here on every 
hand. I now refer to the priest-ridden character 
of the people. Priest-craft, it matters not under 
what banner of denominationalism it marches, 
should be resisted most firmly. Here it happens 
to be the Catholic hierarchy. The people in their 
religious life seem to have no thought, no mind, 
no will of their own, but all these are sunk in 
those of the priest. Independence is lost and 
manhood is surrendered. They consult the will 
of the priest, and not that of their Maker, for 
guides of conduct and rules of life. Servitude is 
their condition, and the priest is their master. For 
themselves they dare not think, or if they do, they 
dare not speak their thoughts. His power stifles 
their thoughts and seals their lips. He speaks, and 
they hear; he commands, and they obey. This 
obedience is full and prompt, for it is given to him 
who, they believe, holds the keys to the kingdom, 
who can shut and no man open ; who can open and 
no man can shut. In his keeping they unre- 
servedly entrust their eternal destiny — believe 
when they sleep on earth they will wake with him 
in heaven. They neither think, nor care to think, 
but simply to believe he holds their passports to 
the better world. With such a power, he moulds 
them as the pliant clay in his hands, and fashions 
them to his sovereign will. Here he has no rebel- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 425 

lious subjects ; their souls are not their own, and he 
is free to shape their lives as to him, not to them, 
seems best. His followers are, if we may so term 
them, a kind of human nonentities, existing in the 
sense of breathing, and yet not living in the sense 
of being free, moral agents. For their shortcom- 
ings, faults and crimes, be takes their confessions 
and expunges from the record the penalty for their 
sins. All the women here believe in these things 
with an unshaken faith, and the few men who do 
not, do n't believe in anything. 

This is the pitiable religious condition in which 
we here find human beings ; in this respect, proba- 
bly here no better now than a century ago. The 
world has gone forward, but they have not gone 
forward with the world. Priest-craft still forges 
their shackles, and they still wear them, as it forged 
them, and they wore them in the long-ago. 
Changes everywhere have come in the march of 
time and the spread of civilization, but no changes 
here. The enlightened spirit of the age has here, 
as yet, failed to illumine the spiritual vision of 
these people. Their priest-worship and idolatry of 
saints bespeak their slavish debasement, which no 
language of mine can fitly portray. All ages and 
classes are affected by this priestly influence. If 
this were more frequently than at present directed 
in other channels, in the inculcation of right and 
honesty, in the denunciation of wrong, and vil- 



426 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

lainy, and crime, and in the enforcement of the 
duties of good citizenship, with me it would lose 
much of its odium. If these surpliced dignitaries 
would only take half the pains and trouble to 
teach the youth their duties to society — doing 
right, being honest, and keeping innocent — that 
they take to impress them with their holy impor- 
tance, and to teach them certain formulas, cross- 
making and genuflections, then the land would be 
freer from its hordes of robbers and assassins. 
With such an unlimited influence in this way much 
good might be accomplished. Better far that it 
should be used as a prevention of evil, than after 
its commission as a pardoning power. Too often 
the offender, after the pardon of his moral guilt by 
the priest — if then for his legal guilt society seeks 
his punishment — he thinks society regards him as 
its enemy, and he in turn becomes the open enemy 
of society. No, this is not the age for the contin- 
uance, much less the cultivation of such supersti- 
tious slavishness, and it should be buried with the 
follies of the past. A new era has dawned upon 
the world, and a better faith with a better reason, 
and a better practice, should guide to the heavenly 
haven life's mariners. 

The spirit of investigation is abroad, the spirit 
of inquiry is awakened as never before, old errors 
must crumble into ruins, and Truth, born from 
above, must emerge into light, glorious in its de- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 427 

velopmeuts, and as radiantly beautiful as the feet 
of them that bring the glad tidings of salvation. 
This Truth may have slumbered for centuries in 
the past, but in the centuries of the future, in the 
good providence of its Almighty Author, its sav- 
ing manifestations as never before will be wit- 
nessed, and its conquests extended until at last the 
varied tribes, tongues and peoples of earth shall 
be gathered into the family of God. Let the un- 
fettered truth have its free course. 



CHAPTER LX. 

CONCLUSION — LOVE OF THE OLD FLAG WHEN 
SEEN FROM A FOREIGN LAND. 

I find I have already extended these general re~ 
flections beyond my anticipation, and, lest I be 
wearisome, I will now bring them to a close. But 
I will say that the foregoing are some of the more 
important matters, in my conception, deserving the 
earnest consideration of the Mexican people. It is 
probable these have received the attention of her 
thinking population ; but as yet, for reasons which, 
when fully known, may be satisfactory, they re- 
main in their present condition, subject to the criti- 
cism, and often animadversions of observant for- 
eigners. I know it is easy to criticise the adminis- 
tration of others, even when those criticised may 
concur in the justness of the criticism, but from in- 
superable circumstances unknown to the critic, the 
line of policy already inaugurated must be pur- 
sued. The critic in the given case furnishes no 
new information, and by his obtrusive suggestions 
renders no practical aid to him who is, for the 
time, in management. The value of our observa- 
428 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 429 

tions must rest upon a basis as broad as the knowl- 
edge of the entire facts. So, while my observa- 
tions are gratuitous, though founded upon an ex- 
perience here of some years, I trust the friendly 
spirit in which they are offered will relieve them 
from any offensiveness. 

And now, to my readers I will say, we have 
been journeying together for a considerable time ; 
but the period now approaches when the " best of 
friends must part." We have visited the moun- 
tains of the Sierra Madre, and seen them in their 
loneliness, their rugged ness and beauty. The 
mountain streams have passed us, as they went 
flashing, in light and beauty, shouting to the sea. 
With awe-inspired souls we have looked upon those 
awful gorges, rents in nature's face, that tell of 
primeval throes, made in those early creative 
periods described by the Biblical writer as the 
mornings and evenings of the first days. We have 
seen some of the ruins of a long-lost, forgotten 
people. We have gone into the houses of the 
mountaineer, and familiarized ourselves with their 
characters, their habits and modes of life. We 
have looked into the different modes of govern- 
ment, to some extent examined their practical oper- 
ations, their defects and excellencies. We have 
marked with pleasure the evidence of national pro- 
gress, and indulged in prophecies of future great- 
ness. We have ventured to point to some reefs 



430 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

ahead, to be shunned by the steersman of State, 
some lurking dangers in the sea of the future. 
And, if at times, in the discussion of characters, 
my language may have seemed severe, it was severe 
only because it was true. My words were not 
barbed with bitterness, but only winged with 
truth. The varities of climate have been marked 
by the diversities of products corresponding to the 
different altitudes. In some respects, we have 
found this a ' ' goodly land," not exactly flowing in 
milk and honey, and with clustering grapes, like 
those of Eschol, but, as yet, more " goodly " in 
promise than fruition. We have found her a 
young Republic, struggling with the problems of 
self-government, and, I believe, honestly striving 
to " put off the old and put on the new," in order 
to elevate and better her people. She is our little 
sister, and, as she walks side by side and hand in 
ours, turns up her smiling face for some returning 
smile, some words of comfort, cheer and counsel. 
But to return ; we have spoken of her great re- 
sources, her mountains of mineral?, whose surface 
is explored, but whose depths are yet untouched. 
And as we passed, matters of internal polity have 
not been overlooked. That vital question, taxa- 
tion in its different forms, has received some discus- 
sion. With much pleasure we have noted the 
question of education exciting an interest almost 
everywhere. We have seen educational institutions, 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 431 

increasing under the fostering care of the States and 
general government, both in numbers and effi- 
ciency. But there are many more things, to which 
we can not now refer, but to which we made hasty ref- 
erence as we passed along. I hope our companion- 
ionship[has been pleasant, un marred by a single 
word or incident. To me it has been a labor of 
love to guide you in these wilds, to point out scenes 
such as elsewhere do not exist ; to talk of men and 
things unlike those we have seen in other parts. 
It is grateful to my heart to think that with some 
these pages may have chased some cares away, and 
filled up the hours with some pleasant thoughts. 
To know that they had made one care, one trouble, 
one wrinkle less, would double my delight. As 
often ship acquaintances to a distant port part with 
keen regrets, never to see each other more, so it is 
with a feeling not unmixed with sadness we near 
our journey's close. As this is my first, perhaps 
my last literary excursion, I would not leave you 
here in the heart of the Sierra Madre, but we will 
make our adieus, retrace our steps to the frontier, 
cross over the river, and disband. However much 
our pleasure may here have been, on our return, 
the stars and stripes, when first seen from a foreign 
land, will thrill our hearts with a deeper joy than 
they ever inspired before. The moistened eye, the 
quivering lip, will speak the deep emotions of the 
heart. Once more the sight of that flag will cause 



432 THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 

the words of Drake to spring from the memory to 
the lips, and we all exclaim : 

" When Freedom from her mountain height 
Unfurled her standard to the air, 
She took the azure robe of night 
And set its stars of glory there." 

Then its stars, seen from its streaming folds, will 
awake the patriotic ministrelsy of the heart. That 
flag is mine, and yours, and behind it is a power 
slumbering in the arms and wills of sixty millions 
of freemen. At the tocsin of war its embattled de- 
fenders would leap forth in full armor, as leaped 
Minerva in full panoply from the brain of Jove. 
Its eagles with unwearied wing can fly farther than 
those of Rome ever did. 

Home at last, for in the shadow of that banner is 
every American's home. Gaze not, with longing 
eyes, across the Rio Grande. Build up and beau- 
tify the waste places of your own country. Make 
two spears of grass to grow where but one grew be- 
fore. As already urged, build up the waste places 
with the useful arts and industries. And the waste 
lands, these beautify with flowering shrubs and 
vines, or, by an applied knowledge of agricultural 
chemistry and improved systems of tillage, con- 
vert them into waving grain fields. Inculcate a 
lofty patriotism and the true principles of popular 
government, carry them out, and its manifold bless- 



THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. 433 

ings in ever increasing showers will fall upon our 
happy millions. 

And now, to conclude, I will say, as said the Ju- 
dean Roman governor, upon that occasion, the most 
momentous in the history of our race, " What I 
have written, I have written ; " but to these words 
I must add, with a farewell bow, and a misgiving 
unaffected, " would it were worthier" 



3^77-6 



